Have you ever wondered what it’s like to play in a slots tournament?
NCSharp.com recently talked with a Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort VIP about her experience. Heather R. has Seven Stars status with Caesars Entertainment from playing slots in North Carolina, regularly visiting Cherokee over the last two years, and going twice monthly in 2023.
She played in her first VIP slots tournament in July and will compete in several more upcoming events, including another tournament at the end of September and the World Tournament of Slots from Oct. 24-27. The WTOS is a 500-player invitational event in the Bahamas that will award $1 million to the winner.
Going in with no expectations
Slots tournaments occur at all three North Carolina casinos. Some may require an entry fee, while others serve as promotional events that qualifying players may participate in, usually after accruing a minimum number of rewards credits. Online slots play is available in North Carolina through social and sweepstakes casinos.
Heather said she had never seen Harrah’s Cherokee advertise a slots tournament in all the promotional material she’d received. Other Caesars and MGM properties promote them, but the North Carolina casinos (Cherokee and Cherokee Valley River) don’t.
In this case, her host reached out two days before the event and asked if she wanted to play, Heather said.
“I’d found out two days prior that I won a seat to the WTOS, so going to [a tournament] at my regular casino beforehand was great and a lot less intimidating. The timing was kismet.”
As she had never played in a slots tournament, Heather said she had no expectations going into the event. She googled videos of other tournaments to get a better idea and saw “a bunch of people pushing buttons and tapping screens.”
Myst Bar and the Rewards Desk set up the tournament. Smoking was not allowed during the tournament. Harrah’s Cherokee allows smoking only in one designated room.
After checking into a kiosk by 10:30 a.m., Heather received a 2:40 p.m. time slot. Players had just three minutes to play their assigned machine, hoping to win as much as possible.
“They had two banks of machines. I can’t recall if there were four or five machines on each side for a total of 16-20. There were screens above the games that kept a running tally of the current players’ scores, then switched to the leaderboard between games. It started at 11 a.m., so it was nice to be able to watch other participants in advance. I didn’t even think to take a picture.”
What the experience was like
Heather said the experience was somewhat anticlimactic after all the anticipation. The tournament’s structure factored into that sentiment, as most people were quickly eliminated from contention.
“You tap the spin button as fast as you can while bonus stars pop up on the screen above the reel. You have to tap those too. I ended up getting first or second in my group but was 89th overall by the time the next group started. You had to be in the top 40 or 50 scores to move to the next round.
“I anticipated the pace of play after watching others, but I was shocked at how sore my arms were. They felt shaky and burned for several minutes afterward. While playing, I kept switching my arms, with one pushing the spin button and the other tapping the stars on the screen for the full three minutes.”
She offered advice for anyone looking to play in a slots tournament: “Hydrate and start exercising your arms now.”
More tournaments at Harrah’s and abroad
Heather said she did not stay to watch the end of the tournament after not qualifying for the next round. However, most slots tournaments pay a cash prize to the winner and award significant free play amounts to other top finishers.
According to Heather, next month’s WTOS will award many smaller prizes in addition to the $1 million first-place windfall. These include $500 flight vouchers, comped resort stays, an awards gala dinner and a swag bag.
She will play in another tournament between now and October. The casino sent her an email invite to September’s “Spin Your Way to Victory” VIP Slots Tournament.
To enter that event, she had to provide her full name, rewards number, and date of birth. After receiving a quick confirmation, she saw on Facebook that others were less fortunate. The tournament filled up almost immediately.
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