Hey Folks:

Just off Canada's busiest highway (401), between Toronto and Guelph is a Racetrack slot operation called Mohawk. In August 2007, I wrote a review about this place -- and I am happy to report about 1/3 of machines have been "turned over". This is a brief update, to bring you up-to-date of the changes. In fact, the changes are so positive, there is a better variety of slots than other area casinos such as Brantford (full charity casino) and Flamborough. I will assume this makeover will make its way into the other OLGC (Ontario Lottery Gaming) run casinos before the end of the year. This is an overview of the site.

The "Wheel of Fortune" (big wheel) 2-cent denomination ($1.60 minimum bet to qualify for the bonus round) proved to be a "bust" for this location. The novelty wore thin quickly ... perhaps it was the additional 80-cent per spin contribution to qualify for a big wheel top prize of $200 (is this good value?). It has been replaced with a collection of classic old IGT games (think Lucky Larry's Lobstermania ... and all the usual suspects) connected to the "Fort Knox" multi-tiered bonusing system. These new low-denom games will find fans.

Lots of old reel-style quarter slots have been removed --- and made way for plenty of 2-cent denom gaming. Aristocrat is one of the big winners here, with a collection of approximately 20 new titles (although almost all of the games are at least a few years old -- you can see Pompeii, 100 Lions, Panda, etc). Although the graphics and sound are inferior to competitors, the games are huge hits with gamers ... and the casino is catching on. Aristocrat and WMS Gaming have been the big winners in this jurisdiction.

WMS gaming has picked up many 2-cent machines as well. There is HOT HOT PENNY (in various flavors) -- and a collection of the impressive G+ gaming machines (Palace of Riches II, Brazilian Beauty and Zeus). WMS Gaming has also picked up floor space for their traditional reel spinners with 9 paylines in the nickel and greater catagory. Add in new (to this casino), the multi-line nickel games like Reels O'Dublin, Double Easy Money. However, I need to question why a minimum 25-cent multi-denom game is necessary for a game like "3 Alarm Fire" ... when a minimum 5-cent version is already available (and the 5-cent version can go up to $1). It's my guess that the payback percentage on the 5-cent minimum is less thanas the 25-cent version (and it's no wonder this happened --- since the Woodbine track has the same overlap in machines).

IGT has a few dozen new 2-cent machines including Wolf Run, Davinci Diamonds (IGT's rip-off of WMS Gamings Cascading tiles games), Stinking Rich, Bombay (different graphics on the Stinking Rich game) and a newer play in the "Frog Prince" series ... entitled appropriately, "Frog Princess". IGT also has some 4-reel 10-cent mechanical reels, involing the number 7 (eg. Butterfly 7's) (which are sure to be an instant bomb -- ho hum). It should ensure the denomination of 10-cents never rally takes flight. Some old 2-cent and 5-cent Star Wars machines will be added. The game was cutting edge 2

More improvements could be made -- for example, one of the two automated payout machines was moved (or removed). There could be more. With all of the new low-denom ... it has actually generated more demand for the machines -- with approximately 100 machines at 2-cents, it is still not enough for the hungry masses.

/\/\/\/\ the Shamus /\/\/\/\