Expert: Rodger Knutson - 12/3/2010

Question
For my father's 80th birthday, we are wanting to fulfill his wish for a slot machine. We are deciding between a Bally 742A-288 or a Bally 922-ZC (5 line). Would you please provide your thoughts on which you think would be the best.

Thank you - Kathy

Answer
Hi Kathy,

He would have a great time owning a slot machine, he will love you for this. Your question is a little hard however, the 742A-288 was made around 1964 or later, and the dash number "-288" tells me that this machine should of came out of "Kellys Nugget" casino and it was hooked up with a bank of 10 machines with a progressive jackpot.

The other machine, the 922-ZC should be a 5 line pay Progressive machine made in 1971. So, there both electro/mechanical machines and any maintenance would be about the same for either machine.

Progressive machines are OK, but they do have lower payout percentages then just plain stand alone games because the progressive has to be payout out someday when it is hit, so the payback on regular play is lower because some of the percentage is added to the progressive jackpot for a future payout.

A 5 line criss cross machine is a lot more fun to play then most other single line machines because you play 5 lines with 5 coins and win almost every three times, but you may win only 2 coins and still lose three coins, but you have action! and a lot of action all the time. With a progressive jackpot your may not have as much action as a none progressive machine, but way more then a single line machine.

So..... I guess if it were me, I would go for the 5 line criss cross machine unless there was a none progressive 5 line criss cross machine as a third choice.

I hope this helps you make a choice of machines. Also I like a machine that has a variety of fruit symbols on the reel strips and not just bars and 7's. If you would want a little more help on this send me a photo of both machines so I could see what type of games are installed on them. My email is: Jackpot7@q.com

Thank You

Rodger Knutson

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