The El Cortez Casino in Downtown Las Vegas partnered with Scientific Games last week for a free-play promotion to launch SG’s “Munchkinland,” the latest entry in the supplier’s popular series of slots based on the classic 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz.
The El Cortez sent letters to 500 slot-club members offering free play for five max-bet spins of $6 each on the new slots. The first 200 players qualified for the $30 worth of free max-bet spins, for a total of $6,000 in free play offered by the casino and SG.
Munchkinland is presented on SG’s Gamefield 2.0 cabinet, which uses combined landscape and portrait monitors to form a unique play field that extends from the front of the machine to the top of the portrait monitor. It features bonuses including the Munchkin characters and the Wicked Witch of the East—the first time that character, who appeared in the film only as feet sticking out from under the house that fell on her, has appeared as a fully imagined character.
The largest win off the free play promotion was $940. There were three $400-plus winners and five $200-plus winners.
“I think it shows the game off. It’s great for both of us,” El Cortez Slot Director Rick Ronca told CDC Gaming Reports. “We wanted to do it and show it how successful it is, and Sci Games is proud of their new box. Their whole package is beautiful.
“Some of the older players think video reel games are gimmicks, and you don’t win money, but we showed them you can,” Ronca said. “Two of my customers are pretty hardcore video poker players, and their grandson won in the promotion. They said they threw a couple hundred bucks into Munchkinland because it was so much fun. That is exactly what you’re looking to have, someone that wouldn’t normally sit down at that game, enjoy themselves and want to do it with their own money. The games are doing well.”
