The second annual Eilers & Krejcic Gaming Slot Awards honor the best in the business.
On February 27, the slot sector gathered at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for the second annual Eliers & Krejcic Gaming Slot Awards. The EKG Slot Awards are compiled using a formula consisting of game performance data combined with a survey of qualified slot managers in the land-based categories. EKG is one of the most respected sources of information on the monthly performance of slots for all the major manufacturers.
Awards were given in 24 different categories, and Triple Play Poker inventor Ernie Moody was the second member inducted into the EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame. Most media reports on the event have dutifully listed the awards and recipients in each category; in this month’s Frank Floor Report, we’ll delve a little deeper to offer some detail on each winner in the land-based category and a bit of commentary about some of the top winners.
For the second year in a row, Aristocrat Technologies dominated the event, repeating as Best Overall Supplier of Slot Content, one of eight total awards the supplier received on the night. Behind Aristocrat were Scientific Games and Everi, which each landed three awards. IGT won two, and single awards were won by Gamblit and Interblock.
Here are some details on the land-based slots honored in this year’s EKG Slot Awards.
Buffalo Gold Revolution (Aristocrat)
Top Performing New Video Reel Core Game
This new entry in the venerable Buffalo franchise was one of three games in the Buffalo brand to land EKG awards this year. The base game is a “ways-to-win” scatter-pay slot in the Xtra Reel Power series. In the main mystery feature of the base games, a random number of reel symbols change to the highest-paying symbol, the stampeding buffalo, for a pay re-evaluation. This version of Buffalo, featured on the new Mars X cabinet, also includes a bonus wheel feature.
Buffalo Diamond (Aristocrat)
Top Performing New Premium Game
This is the 10th anniversary edition of the Buffalo franchise. Another Reel Power scatter game, it features Buffalo Free Games, including 2X and 4X win multipliers, as well as a wheel bonus that awards free games with multipliers, credits, or a multi-site progressive jackpot resetting at $500,000. Wild multipliers are featured on the middle reels in the free games.
Buffalo Gold (Aristocrat)
Top Performing Core Video Reel Game
Housed on the Arc Single cabinet, Buffalo Gold features the classic Buffalo game play and a base-game mystery feature that randomly multiplies wins by two or three. The bonus feature awards up to 20 free games. During the fee spins, the Buffalo Gold symbol changes into the top-paying Buffalo symbol for the remainder of the free spins, and increments a top-box meter. Each new Buffalo Gold symbol changes a lower-paying symbol into the Buffalo for the remainder of the spins.
Dragon Link: Happy and Prosperous (Aristocrat)
Top Performing Proprietary Branded Game
This player-favorite progressive link features a colorful Asian-themed experience with big symbols that’s tied to the Dragon Link family. In the main free-game feature, the player collects coins in a hold-and-spin feature, with the goal of filling the entire screen with coins to land the progressive jackp
ot.
Cash Machine (Everi)
Top Performing New Mechanical Reel Core Game
This game is unique among reel-spinners in that it does not include classic reel symbols, just numbers and blanks landing on the three reels. The player wins what he sees on the screen, up to a top winning combination of 10-5-00, for 10,500 credits. It is designed as a high-denomination three-reel mechanical game and is available on several different Everi stepper cabinets.
Shark Week with Jaws of Steel 
(Everi)
Top Performing Third Party IP Branded Game
Based on the long-running and iconic Discovery Channel series, this 3-D presentation on the Empire 5527 cabinet features a nine-reel base game with multiplying wild symbols in a free-spin round. There are several clever interactive bonus events, including “Break the Cage,” the “What did the Shark Eat?” picking bonus, an interactive “Fish Grab,” and a “Shark Week Wheel” bonus spin.
88 Fortunes (Scientific Games
)
Top Performing Core Mechanical Reel Game
Top Performing Online Slot
Scientific Games’ popular 88 Fortunes theme has gained fans both as a stepper game and an online slot. The land-based version is a three-reel stepper designed for low denominations that features a four-level progressive jackpot with the top prize resetting at $10,000. The game is based on the classic SG video slot of the same name. During the base game, a random multiplier of 2X to 88X can be applied to pays including a special symbol. The Jackpot Bonus is a picking game in which the player selects “Fu Babies” until matching three to win the corresponding jackpot. The free game feature offers three options of varying volatility, according to the level of the available multipliers.
Ultimate X Poker (IGT)
Top Performing Video Poker Game
This has been one of IGT’s most popular video poker games in a history that has seen the company dominate the video poker genre that it did, after all, invent. The centerpiece of Ultimate X Poker is a multiplier that is applied to various hands. A bonus multiplier is awarded to each active hand that ends in a winning combination. The value of the multiplier is determined by the pay schedule, and is applied to any wins received in that hand in the next game. This makes Ultimate X Poker a theme in which each successive hand is almost guaranteed to be more exciting than the last.
Gem Flux
(Gamblit Gaming)
Top Performing Interactive Electronic Gaming Machine
Created for the Gamblit TriStation gaming system, Gem Flux is a classic puzzle-style game in which the object is to match gems for wins. Not only does every match result in a wager, it also triggers a set of more gems that cascade down into the game screen. Making matches can also prompt random timed challenges, each of which has a different time limit and set of requirements. Completing challenges can land a prize up to 500 times the bet! The game draws on the most popular elements of similar games that have gained popularity as mobile-based games available for smartphone play.
Roulette (Interblock)
Top Performing Electronic Table Game
Interblock’s Roulette recreates the classic table game with a fully automated wheel surrounded by player stations in any of several different Interblock ETG products, including Diamond Roulette and Organic Roulette. Available in single-zero or double-zero versions, the product features a shielded generator covered by a glass dome that prevents unauthorized access into the machine’s interior. The Organic Cylinder’s rim is made of carbon fiber and embellished with Swarovski crystals. The roulette generator is able to produce between 60 and 80 results per hour.
