I was recently invited to play in a slot tournament for select Total Rewards members. This is the loyalty program of Caesars Entertainment, the company that owns casinos such as Harrah’s, Planet Hollywood, and The LINQ to name a few. The offer came with complimentary room accommodations and I chose to stay at Planet Hollywood which is located next door to Paris Las Vegas where the tournament took place.

For those of you who have never played in a slot tournament before, you may find this a bit intimidating.  The truth of the matter is, there really is no special skill required other than the ability to hit a button really fast. There are some who believe that they may be able to influence the outcome of a spin, but truly it is a game of chance.

Slot tournament formats are all basically the same. When you sign up for a tournament, you are assigned a machine and a slot session time to play.  For this tournament, the participants each played in two sessions which lasted two minutes each.  The scores from both of those sessions were added and the total was our final score.

Although I believe winning a slot tournament is all based on luck, below are some tips that can help you stay strong in your ‘tournament game.”

Sign Up For a Players Card / Loyalty Program

This is the first tip I would give anyone who wanted to come to Las Vegas.  Sign up for the loyalty program of the casino you will be visiting.  If you are going to spend money gambling, dining or watching shows in a casino, you may as well be rewarded for it.  Some loyalty programs reward you for some to all of the activities just mentioned.  Most invitations for slot tournaments are only sent to loyalty program members.

Do Not Look at Your Score

The tournament sessions only last a few minutes. Stay focused!  Do not waste time looking up at your score.  I remember years ago when I worked at a slot tournament. One participant was too busy looking at her score and ended up hitting the wrong button. Concentrate on hitting that spin button!

Hit the Maximum Bet Button

Pop-Ups for Bonus Points

Speaking of the wrong button, make sure you listen to the tournament rules. They are usually repeated by the host of the tournament before the session begins. You will be given clear instructions to hit the maximum bet button.  Make sure you are hitting the right button as fast as you can.  Take the videos and selfies AFTER your session is over so your hands are free to hit all the buttons necessary.

For this tournament, not only did we have to hit the maximum bet button with one hand, but there were occasional pop-ups that would appear on the screen.  We had to tap these for additional bonus points with our other hand. There was no time for a selfie!

My prize: $65 in Reel Rewards

There were 500 participants who all won a prize since they paid out to 500th place. That was nice! The prizes were all Reel Rewards or Gaming Vouchers which are credits that can be played at a machine at any one of their casinos.  I placed 407th which gave me $65 in Reel Rewards.  I would have rather won first place which was $4,000, but I had a lot fun anyway.

I brought my sister along to take videos and pictures of me.  This is my last tip.  Make sure you post your photos on your social media pages to make your friends jealous about your big Vegas slot tournament.

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