February 2010

Go Ape Young Man by Victor H. Royer

As promised, in this issue – and future issues – I will write a little more about some of the favorite slots that readers of Midwest Gaming & Travel like to play. In this issue I present Banana King: Panther Magic™, by Aristocrat, and a short description of the game and how to play it.

With apologies to Horace Greeley for paraphrasing his famous “Go West, young man!” slogan, let us here please be clear that this wonderful game from Aristocrat is for all the ladies, as well as all the men. Young – or as old as me (ehm, let’s not get into that just this moment) – the point is well taken: This is a 25-line double stand-alone progressive, with two progressive jackpots, and not just one. And the best news? You can win on this machine without having to compete with other players, because this progressive is just for each machine, and not linked to others. So, you can always look for the good progressive amounts, and not only enjoy the great base game, and the many bonuses, but also the healthy jackpots.

The Minor jackpot begins with a seed of $50, and the Major jackpot begins with a seed of $750. That’s the amount at which the jackpots begin to grow. In addition, this is one of the great new games with an “ante” bet, which means that for a few extra credits you can unlock bigger and more frequent winners. For the base game, your wager is 25 credits, but with a 10-credit ante bet, for a total of 35 credits, you can get into ALL of the bonuses and extra pays. The max bet can be either $1.75, up to $3.50, in the base 1-cent denomination.

There are several themes in the Banana King family of games, including Panther Magic™ – the game I am describing here – as well as Dolphin Treasure™, Wild Ways™, and the newest Turtle Treasure™. No matter which of the four base games you chose, all of them can get into and win the following features.

The Match Card Progressive Jackpot feature can be won randomly during any paid game. The screen fills up with cards for you to choose from, and you can play the card feature to win one of the two progressive jackpots, or a consolation prize. Wild King

In this feature, three free games are won. During each free game a BANANA KING will be placed randomly on the screen over an entire reel position and substitutes for all symbols. Each BANANA KING remains in the same reel position for the remaining free games.

Great Race

Here you get to pick a character for the Animal Race. What you win then depends on where your character placed in the race – the better the result, the more you win. So, cheer for your pick, and urge them on!

Banana Match

Here you have a screen full of bananas, and you get to pick as many BANANAS as you can, until two prizes match. Wins may be multiplied by 2, 5 or 10 times.

Climb 4 Cash

You didn’t think this was going to be easy, did you? Here you have to climb up the tree to win prizes. But, you don’t have to climb the tree yourself – the monkey will do it for you. As the monkey climbs the tree, you can choose to keep climbing – or leave with whatever you have already won. If you choose to keep climbing and fall, then you will collect only half of the prizes you have won up to that point. So, don’t fall down – right?

Coco Bingo

In this feature you get to press the PLAY button, and random BINGO COCONUTS will automatically be selected; when an entire row of 5 coconuts in a straight line (vertically, horizontally or diagonally) has been selected, the total of the prizes and multipliers revealed in that row will be paid to you, and multiplied by credits per line played.

So, there you have it. Banana King. Yes, indeed, Go Ape! Big News!

I am pleased to announce that I am writing a new book on slots. It will be available about April 2010. I will have more information in my future columns. Stay tuned. r — Victor H. Royer is the author of more than 20 books on casino games and gaming. His books on Slots, Video Slots, Keno, and Video Poker are consistently at the top of the best-seller lists. His books are available in major bookstores worldwide, from the Gambler’s Book Shop in Las Vegas (1-800-522-1777), Amazon.com or visit: www.gamingauthor.com.