Two Decades Old Slot in Las Vegas Attracts Huge Crowds

Old slot machines suddenly transform into the main attraction at various Las Vegas casinos.

Sin City is full of fun and extra attractions besides the actual gambling under American gambling laws. You have beautiful hotels, live entertainment, residence performances by huge rock bands, exquisite cuisine, and the Cirque du Soleil is also performing regularly in Las Vegas.

However, during the recent times, there seems to be a brand new attraction. Well, we all know that everything new is well-forgotten old. In a similar fashion, nowadays, it’s not the online casinos in United States that attract visitors to Nevada, but the old-fashioned, three-reel one-armed bandits. One of the most attractive of them is the Lion’s Share.

Why Lion’s Share slots is attracting visitors to Las Vegas?

The reason is very simple: the old slot machine hasn’t paid out a jackpot in nearly twenty years. A simple mathematical calculation among players, puts the odds of the machine paying out in the very near future at “quite high”.

The renowned slot machine has stood there on the floor of the Las Vegas Strip’s second biggest gambling establishment, the MGM Grand, for nearly two decades now. The poor payout history of the machine has turned the tables, when sure bets are concerned. Several generations of gamers have lost money on it, taking its progressive jackpot to a decent $2.3 million right now. Thus making it a very decent run for the money should the jackpot actually fall into someone’s hands.

What gamblers have to say about the machine

Lief Anderson, who came down from Washington, is 64-years-old and says he’s a passionate second-generation Lion’s Share player, taking over the quest for the jackpot from his father over 10 years ago. He has the following comments: “You see the sharks swimming around, scoping you out.”

He’s referring to the long-standing slot etiquette, according to which the seat is available on the first-come, first-served basis. The slot player can linger on the machine until he’s out of money or simply tired.

Lion’s Share slot in Las Vegas is accumulating a jackpot for 20 years


• The slot machine is located on the floor of MGM Grand Casino

• Players flock from all over the world to sin the slot under American gambling laws

• The maximum bet is $3 per spin, and the jackpot is standing at $2.3 million currently

Lion’s Share slot has a maximum bet capped on $3, an takes both $1 and $2 bets as well. Players can win up to $10,000 without even reaching the jackpot, ensuring that small wins can make them stick around for several hours in one sitting.

Justin Paulus, from Chandler, Arizona, is 23, which makes him barely older than the machine itself. However, he already showed his commitment to the jackpot quest going for a six-hour night session at the slot last spring. He actually fell asleep a couple of times during the session. Paulus commented: “Security kept coming over to wake me up, but they didn’t say I had to leave. So I’d wake up, press a button, and then fall asleep again. I just have this feeling it’s going to hit soon.”

Another slot enthusiast, Karen Kuefler, had clear instructions from her husband not to let anyone cut in before her. The Calgary resident told American gambling news: “If he could sleep with this machine, he would.” Ken, her husband, is apparently bringing as much as $5,000 to the machine each time they make a trip to Vegas. He recalls: “It’s become a meeting spot for us. We have friends we’ve made just from waiting at the machine.”

Lion’s Share slot enjoying spotlight elsewhere

The machine has been made popular not only in Las Vegas. The slot enjoys quite a devoted camp if followers. It even has its very own Facebook profile, Twitter account, fan websites and forum message boards.

Every time the machine pays out $6 on a $3 bet for sighting a lion, it is considered to be breaking news. Not surprisingly so. The machine is, naturally, the oldest slot of the MGM Grand property, and enjoys the highest attention or level of occupancy – the daily time played, says MGM executive director of slots, Justin Andrews.

Players, of course, have their own ways to “do magic” with the machine. Some will only pull the old-fashioned lever (the arm of the bandit), some show off gymnastic rituals similar to the Kiwi’s rugby team, before play, and some even go as far as only hitting the spin button with their feet.

A resident of San Jose, California, Siubhan Pabst, had the following to share about the machine: “I’m not normally like this, but with this machine, I talk to it. Whenever a lion comes up, I rub it. I know it’s strange, but the machine has this juju about it.”

Pabst came very close to hitting the jackpot last summer. She managed to line up two lions in a row, barely missing the third one needed for the jackpot win. She got a nice $10,000 payout and recalls: “I was sitting there at the machine frozen in shock for 20 minutes. After, I was on this crazy high for two days.”

We wish all slot machine enthusiasts the best of luck with the Lion’s Share jackpot, and will continue reporting on it in our daily news. Should the magic jackpot produce a win, our readers will be among the first ones to learn about it.