ChumpChange's Blog

37 Years Designing Slot Machines: Here's What We Never Told Players

I Spent 37 Years Designing Slot Machines: Here's What We Never Told Players - Behind The Casino
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAasv-KKFjk


How Slot Machines REALLY Work - Desolator Gaming Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpY38BcIvYU

About those 4 Phoenix Link Games

I was confronted with new Phoenix Link games at the local casino last night. I just so happened to have a voucher in my pocket so I put it in to see what the buttons look like, as I was doing on the Dragon link machines at the time. There were a couple buttons for 50 or 100 lines, or lower amounts of lines for higher denoms. The denom screen was large going from 1 cent to $2. I think it was 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 cents and $1, $2; where the Dragon links were 1, 2, 5, 10 cents and $1, $2: or 10, 25, 50 cents and $1, $2 on the $25K+ Grand high limit room machines. What I noticed in the rules screen was that there are, finger quotes, "orbs" that have Mini, Minor, or Major Jackpots that can be 1X, 2X, or 3X payouts. I'm looking at the Major JP of over $700 and figuring a triple Major would be a hand pay, so I've written this machine off my playing interests. I'd be looking for a minimum hand pay of over $10K and that would be the Grand Jackpot, but there's no multiplier on that.

So I've spent the day looking at a few Phoenix Link machines on the internet to see what is up with them since I don't know. I figure if they have to come up with a multiplier on the jackpots, they are definitely making the wait between bonuses double or triple which is unusable. But some of the videos suggest the bonuses are absurdly pathetic so maybe the frequency isn't so bad as much as the variation between low bonus payouts and high bonus payouts. If you're just winning 2X-3X your bet in a bonus round, that's just severe disappointment; but winning 25X, 50X, or 100X your bet after losing 50 bets in a row waiting for a bonus round is just maybe getting back to even.

So I looked at a few videos and none of them give an in-depth explanation of the buttons they are pushing, or even showing the buttons. Then there's the revelation that these machines change their Major and Grand jackpots at higher denoms with little explanation. I'm trying to make a chart of what is going on with these bonuses, and denoms, etc. but it is terribly difficult if none of these posters care at all about what game they are selling but only selling their impatient greed to win as fast as possible so any wins are instantly wiped off the screen with the next immediate spin. They just randomly switch denoms with very little if any explanation of how that changes their jackpot goals as if you already knew a long time ago. What they say is barely an after-thought. Even the Aristocrat website says next to nothing about these games. There's so little said on the internet about these games even getting Google AI to name the 4 games comes up incomplete.

The 4 games are Sensei Master & Queen Chiu (from 2022) which features Wild 2X bonus spots on the screen; and Confucius Say & General Tso which features Twin Spins to trigger your chance to win a Hold & Spin (whatever that means). If you win the 1,888 or less Phoenix counter round you get a hold and spin. These are different than the Buffalo Stampede counters which reset to 100 on a win and count up at a much slower rate than on Buffalo Stampede.

From what I can figure, the Major JP starts doubling when you go from 50 cents to $1 denoms, and the Grand JP doubles when you go above $1 denoms, but I'm not sure. These machines get set differently according to location, so what's true at one casino may not be true at other casinos that these machines are encountered in.


So let me start with the videos I watched.
A $10,000 Phoenix Link Run You Have to SEE to Believe! - Brian Christopher Slots - 795K subscribers - March 6, 2026


MASSIVE BETS & NON STOP JACKPOTS On Two Million Dollar Phoenix Link Slot - Having Fun With NG SLOT - 123K subscribers - Dec 17, 2025


This last video is exclusive to a unique high limit room machine that could shed some light on goings on in the high limit room. Losing $50K to win $50K back seems to be what he does in videos, idk. That's a lot of W-2G paperwork in 2026 but these players just use their PIN's on the machine for their jackpots.

If I was coming in with a $10K buy-in for 80 spins, that comes out to $125/spin and I'd try to quadruple up using the 1, 2, 3X multiplier on the $5 denom as I pulled ahead. The Mini & Minor would be $5K/$25K. But on these machines, those jackpots could be doubled or tripled.

I just found a video where a person was betting $25/spin at the dime denom with a 10X multiplier on 25 lines. She won 3X $500 Minor JP's & a $100 Mini on the hold & spin. Her total win was $2,125, which would still be a hand pay today as it was in 2014 when Best Bet Lightning Link (horse race slot game) came out. Earlier she won a $665 Major on High Stakes Lightning Link. But a $2,125 hold & spin win on a $25 bet is only 85X of her bet. That's why these words show up, to help you get closer to a higher multiplier on the payout. You bet a higher multiplier like 5X or 10X, the more likely you are to see words in your hold & spin.

This video is an introduction by Jackpot Beauties to About those Lightning Link machines, because I have paid no attention to those machines until now in 2026 with the new $2,000 hand pay threshold. The machines played are High Stakes Lightning Link, Best Bet, and Wild Chuco
I DON’T BELIEVE IT! 3 Minors DROP on Lightning Link In The Same Bonus!- Jackpot Beauties - 118K subscribers - May 28, 2025


I'm refiguring my betting strategy to go something like $0.01 at a 5X multiple followed by a 10X multiple, followed by $0.02 with a 10X multiple as the wins pile-up. But I won't play them until the hand pay problem has gone away, like in Canada.

List of Lightning Link slots at a casino I visit:
LIGHTNING LINK – BEST BET
LIGHTNING LINK – HEART THROB
LIGHTNING LINK – MOON RACE
LIGHTNING LINK – SAHARA GOLD
LIGHTNING LINK – TIKI FIRE

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How to Beat the Phoenix Link Slots - Full Advantage Play Guide - Desolator Gaming - 12.9K subscribers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ4HAXsPE1k

He says you need around 1600 on the counter to justify playing for the free hold & spin. Play higher multiples, not just 1X, because the orb values are pitiful at 1X multipliers. Don't expect to win on this game the first time out, it will bleed you dry most likely. You've got to win big jackpots to catch up.

I took another look at the machines. I don't want to get caught taking notes on a pen & paper because that will get me backroomed. I can't remember this stuff very accurately either. But at higher denoms the number of lines were 15 or 25. On mid-denoms, it was 25 or 50 lines. At low-denoms it was 50 or 100 lines. The Major started doubling at $0.50 on to $1. The Grand more than doubled ($10K to $28K) going from $10 to $25 denoms.
I saw another video where a $10K Minor was the same as the maxed out Major at $10K on the $2 denom. But at the casino I found the Major going up from $700 to over $6K at the highest denom. If one resets, I don't think they all reset on a win. I think you can collect the Major at different denoms the same day with much higher than minimum reset values on the same machine on Phoenix Link/Cash.

I played 100 spins on Panda Magic the other day and lost $35 at $0.50/spin. No bonuses. So what are these players up to? 150 spins at different denoms for $5/spin. They'll be looking for 600 points on the card to choose their stop points.
Which $5 Bet Is BEST On Phoenix Link Slots? - Desert Degens - 36.9K subscribers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GclIM2tutCg


The Vegas Matt and Friends Channel decided to surprise the world with $5,000/spin on the Million Dollar Grand machine. They are playing 50 lines at the $10 denom with a 10X multiple for $5,000/spin. There's some delays while making this video. They are on self-pay which covers jackpots of $2,000 to $50,000. For jackpots between $50K and $200K they have to get a hand pay and they can decide if it will be paid in cash or vouchers, they are taking vouchers today. If the jackpot is over $250K, they have to open the machine and verify the working order of the machine and it could take 30-40 minutes on each play stoppage. So what seems like a short video is really too many hours at the machine including the play stoppages. Since the self-pay only covers up to 10X their bet jackpots, and the attendant only covers up to 50X their bet jackpots, raising their bets to say $10K when they get above $600K or $15K when they get above $1 million and quitting when they get to $1.6 million so they'd have four $400K (with 80 spins @ $5K) sessions next time, will just be so time-consuming. I can't imagine what their W-2G paperwork looks like plus they can only deduct 90% of their losses. All payouts over $50K take a long time.

I'm typing this up at the point where they won the triple Major jackpot and it paid 3X $64K and not $64K + $50K + $50K.
There's denominations of $25, $50, and $100 on this machine too, but how many lines on those denoms, I don't know. It's $1, $2, $5, $10 in green then $25, $50, $100 in yellow on the screen. Usually you only get 5 lines on the top denoms, but it matters how the machine was set. They could be playing $2500/spin by playing 25 lines at the $10 denom on this game, and I thought that's what they were doing but it doesn't add up to $5K/spin. There's two buttons you can choose between a lower or higher number of lines per denom.

We Won Over $1,000,000 On Slots Today - Vegas Matt & Friends - 186K subscribers - Mar 25, 2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEG82vKAtN4


The million dollar orb went on by and didn't award them $2 million by landing on the last spot!
https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/gambling/slots/29258-slotlady-channel/30/#post976123

Hard Rock Spins For The Gold!

LADY LUCK, VEGAS MATT, NG SLOT, AND THE BIG JACKPOT SPIN FOR GOLD! #tampaluckyslots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeYAU3xXHI4



After 2 rounds, 1 round of 30 spins @ $250 and 1 round of 30 spins @ $375, among 4 internet-celeb players, they've collectively used $75K in free play and cashed-out $68,215 for an RTP of 90.9533%. 2 players were ahead but they won on the same machine in different rounds. The game officials are entering these hand pays onto their Player's Card using fast pay, so they will pay tax on them. Cash-outs and hand pay vouchers were collected by the game officials. Half of the winnings go back to the marketing dept. for later distribution in a drawing.
After 3 rounds, 3 of the 4 players were ahead and Vegas Matt hit a 104X $500 JP for $52K. The total wins was $187,815 on $135K played or +39.12%.

It looks like the linked Grand progressive went up $380 on $180K played (including audience spins) or $2.11 per $1,000.
The Major went up $356.25 on Happy & Prosperous for $45K played as an unlinked JP for about $7.91 per $1,000.
At the beginning the Grand JP was the same on all machines but the Major JP was different on all the machines but were within about $10-$20 of the reset value of $25,000.
So it looks like about $10/$1,000 played goes towards those progressive JP's at a near 3.75 to 1 ratio (Major to Grand).
4 Players X 40 spins X ($250 + $375+ $500, 3 denoms) = $180K
If you're playing to double the Major JP at $7.91/$1,000 you'd need $25,000/$7.91 = $3,160.56 X $1K = $3.160 million played.
If you're looking to add $888,888.88 to the Grand JP at $2.11/$1K, you'd play $421.74 million.

For the penny slot version:
If you're looking to double a $500 Major JP, you'll need $500/$7.91 = $63.211 X $1K = $63.211 played
If you're looking to increase the Grand JP from $10K to $18,888.88, you'd play $4.2174 million.

The odds look the same, just the minimum denom is different ($0.01 vs $1), although I think the Major on the Million $ machine should reset to $50,000 instead of $25,000 compared to the penny slot.

The audience spins were 10 spins per round, 4 players, and they got $500 of free play each for being picked to "come on down!" and they kept whatever the cash-out was after the 10 spins of free play was inserted into the machine by voucher. Audience members needed to bring their player's card.

After 4 rounds, there was only 1 winner ahead. There had been $310K in total spins and only $223,135 in total wins for an RTP of 71.98%. Yeah, the players did not like that 4th round and demanded a 5th round.

30 spins:
$1 denom on 25 lines with a 10 coin multiplier for a $250 bet and $1,000/$5,000 Mini/Minor JP's
$5 denom on 25 lines with a 03 coin multiplier for a $375 bet and $5,000/$25,000 Mini/Minor JP's. The Minor was just a few $100 shy of the Major.
$2 denom on 25 lines with a 10 coin multiplier for a $500 bet with $2,000/$10,000 Mini/Minor JP's
$5 denom on 25 lines with a 10 coin multiplier for a $1,250 bet and $5,000/$25,000 Mini/Minor JP's. The Minor was just a few $100 shy of the Major. (35 spins)
5th round of 20 spins at $2500 cancelled.

Final standings:
Vegas Matt: $96,210 (+$18,710) ; 1/2 take-home ($48,105)
NG Slot: $54,950 (-$22,550) ; 1/2 take-home ($27,475)
The Big Jackpot (Raja): $49,935 (-$27,565) ; 1/2 take-home ($24,967.50)
Lady Luck HQ: $22,590 (-$54,910) ; 1/2 take-home ($11,295)
Break Even: $77,500 (free-play each)
$223,135 Total win. Celeb players take home half and the casino doubled what they'll give away to 15 winners at a later drawing.

There were no steady shots at the progressive jackpots advancing which I find out of touch videography-wise. So seeing how much 1 spin at $1,250 would advance the meter reels in successive spins was not determinable. There was one 250X orb that passed by at $312,500 on a $1,250 bet.

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I caught a later video of Raja, The Big Jackpot, having a session on a $2 million slot machine. The cold streaks he went through are astounding to me and I may need to use an abacus to count the non-Bonus slot pulls. I'd get my calculator out to try my new betting strategy and see if that pulled ahead with that kind of adverse luck he had. He lost over $20K, the first $6K at $50/spin for a 120 spin loss, and the next $15K at $100/spin for a 150 spin loss. He recovered about $14K near the end for a 140 spin win on this machine, I watched it last night so I don't remember the details exactly. But I've been figuring if 80 bet buy-ins lose 3X at the beginning of this video, and the 4th buy-in with my progression on winning 120 bets back gets me back to even, I'll try that strategy. I'll include this video because almost every slot video I've seen from everybody has them changing their bets and denoms constantly like they are trying to fool the machine. This video is quite a bit more straight-line flat betting so the streaks and number of spins are easier to figure out. Could also count up how many hand pays he got and how much they total up to for this session. Obviously, it's gonna be bigger than his buy-in. I see the Major jackpot amounts are unlinked in his video thumbnail.

Taking on the Only 2 Million Dragon Link in Florida Live - The Big Jackpot


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I haven't really formed opinions on these slot channels. They play with rapid denom and betting amount changes. I have no idea how bad or good the machines are running. I see edited footage that emphasizes jackpots. "Victor Luck" wasn't even mentioned in this following video. But here's a recent video describing slot channels and how they fare on the internet. These players are losing 6 or 7 figures per year, and some of them are comped, some are independently wealthy. None of that is going to blast-off my slot career from $100. In the last month I've been taking an interest in Dragon Link machines and maybe a Grand Jackpot is manageable, idk. I just need someplace else besides video poker to spend whatever free play comes my way and make a session out of it. The increase in the jackpot threshold to $2K has made these machines more attractive. I could probably stop at $5/spin.
The Most Loved vs Most Hated Gambling Youtubers - Stingy - 3.35K subscribers - 53,825 views - Feb 19, 2026


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How gambling slot influencers always WIN & you don't! - Storytime Slots - 8.2K subscribers - Feb 25, 2026

$10K in Free Play

Her $20 Casino Budget Turns Into a FIVE-DIGIT WIN! (Youngest Winner EVER) - Mr. Hand Pay
Margaret from the Twin Lakes, CT. plays $10,000 in free play at Foxwoods Resort & Casino and almost breaks even. Camera crew made this an event.
Twice she won big on the 2nd spin on a machine, she's got a lucky streak going on. I think she played $2,000 of free play on 5 different machines, but I lost track.



I wouldn't know how to play these machines either, but had I known, I would have bet $10 a spin at most. Mr. Hand Pay wanted to keep the video short and move on from machine to machine and accelerated the session with $50 & $100 spins. With Hand Pays at $2,000 now, I'd be less likely to hit a Hand Pay with $5/spin than at $50/spin. I guess that goes against the whole thing of getting Hand Pays for the Mr. Hand Pay channel. She did great under difficult circumstances.

The previous video I watched was Mr. Hand Pay playing the slots himself and he mentioned about a $10K free play hot seat. It's just luck that the next video I played was the one above with the $10K free play hot seat.



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The GREATEST SIX-FIGURE Dragon Link Jackpot I've EVER Won!($1,000 Spins) - Lady Luck HQ
Not quite free play, but it was deliberate play for the cameras. $10K in spins at $1K per spin got her to over $51K.
She could have won $2.5 million if anything panned out with the 15 orbs, which is a record, but she didn't have to bet that high to have a chance at that..
I had to freeze frame it. The machine was Peace & Long Life.
She later hit a 234.26X Bonus Round on the $500/spin level.
That 90% of losses rule doesn't really count if you're ahead...but it does.
Gotta love the complimentary bag the casino gave her to put $117K of cash in.
Saw a 250X orb for $125K in a bonus round but it passed by. The 13 orb bonus was 25X the bet at $12.5K.
Losing $20K back then losing $10K on another machine, the overbetting continues. If they just cut back to $50 bets, that could last them 200 spins for $10K.



She took $10K to play 5 hands of Black Jack at $2,000 each with some extra cash for double downs or splits and she won the first hand for a $12,000 win.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CCSbmspVm2w

Black Jack banned from California Cardrooms

Black Jack banned from California Cardrooms
https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/gambling/blackjack/42035-blackjack-banned-from-california-card-rooms/#post973869