The Casino Answer Man

Q. Why don't the Illinois boats have progressive slot jackpots like they do in Las Vegas or Tunica, Mississippi? We just came back from Harrah's in Tunica -- it was just outstanding. There were nine five-cent Wheel of Fortune slot machines that were tied into all other five-cent Wheel of Fortune machines in Mississippi. The progressive jackpot was $489,000. Can we do this in Illinois?

Skip S.

A. Progressive slots that link jackpots in several casinos are known in the casino industry as "wide-area progressives." Usually, the machines are owned by the manufacturer, who pays the host casinos a percentage of coins played in order to have the games on the floors. Big winners are not paid by the casino, they're paid by the manufacturer or distributor.

Such systems are not legal in Illinois and Indiana. Gaming officials are keen to avoid the appearance of casinos being partners on a game rather than competitors. One former Illinois gaming official also once told me that the jackpot frequency on such games was so low that it was simply a trap for the unwary, dreaming of lottery-like riches with no real chance of keeping their money or winning the jackpot.

Linked progressives are legal in Illinois and Indiana as long as the entire system is in one casino. That leads to lower jackpots than on the wide-area systems, but single-casino progressives also pay off more often.

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