Move over lucky 7s, celebrity slot machines are here

Stuff a quarter in a slot machine these days and a lot more happens than it used to. Along with the bells and symbols now comes a stereo sound system, dancing figures and Dick Clark.

Celebrities like Clark who usually grace the television screen are now popping up on slot machines, shouting encouragement to gamblers and helping casinos take in big money.

"Yes, yes, yes! Congratulations," Barbara Eden shouts to players on the new "I Dream of Jeannie" slot machine displayed this week at the World Gaming Congress & Expo 1999. When gamblers don't hit a winning combination, Eden consoles them: "I'm sorry, master."

Players can even make Jeannie go back into her bottle by selecting the right one. The new machines come complete with a pink plastic bottle on top of the machine with, of course, Jeannie in the bottle.

"This is about giving them a more entertaining experience," said Ed Rogich, spokesman for Reno-based International Game Technology, the leading producer of slot machines in the world.

The days of the one-armed bandit aren't over, they're just changing. Most of the new interactive slot machines don't even come with a handle - all the playing is done by pushing buttons.

Celebrity slot machines are just another example of how gambling and entertainment are coming together, Rogich said. "That's what it's all about," he said Wednesday.

The company's new wave of slot machines began several years ago with the "Wheel of Fortune" machine. Players don't get to solve puzzles, but they do get to spin the wheel after lining up symbols.

The machine turned out to be IGT's most successful slot machine ever. Now with help from Eden, Clark, Richard Petty and even Pink Panther, IGT hopes it has hit the jackpot again.

Clark's game is centered around New Year's Eve. Play for a few minutes and Clark will begin the countdown, "10, 9, 8 ..." and the champagne starts popping. After racking up coins on the Petty machine, players get to drive the car with Petty yelling, "Pass to the right." Play an Elvis slot machine, which are already in casinos, and you can select a gold album to listen to while you spin the reels.

The new celebrity slots should be in casinos by the first of the year.

"They sure keep coming up with new ones," Maggie McGehee, 55, of Coffeyville, Kan., said as she stuffed quarters into a "Wheel of Fortune" slot machines at the Las Vegas Hilton. "I love them."

With all the excitement, yelling, pushing of buttons - and did we mention the noise - playing slot machines doesn't seem so simple anymore. In fact, some games seem downright confusing. Which button to push, why did I win?

Rogich said most of the machines have help buttons to help the confused figure out how to play the game.

These slot machines are more like adult video games - more ways to win, extra loud music for winners and pats on the back from celebrity voices. IGT believes that's what players want.

"They kind of come to expect a little more entertainment than just a bell sound," Rogich said.

Even "The Addams Family" and "The Munsters" are making an appearance on slot machines. Want to "fry" Uncle Fester or have "Thing" pretend to hand you money?

"These are things we've all grown up with. They are familiar icons - instant recognition," Rogich said.

"It's wild," concluded Brian Southwood, an assistant general manager at Dubuque, Iowa, Greyhound Park-Casino, who tried out "The Addams Family" slots.

And to lure men who might bypass slot machines for table games, IGT enlisted the help of "South Park" characters. Unlike the often-profane cartoon show, these characters don't cuss, kill or maim each other ... or the players.

So what about 20 years from now? Will today's hit television show "E.R." make it onto a slot machine?

"If it's got the popularity, everything's fair game," Rogich said.

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