Manufacturer: WMS Gaming
Platform: Transmissive Reels
Format: Five-reel, 40-line stepper
Denomination: .01-5.00
Max Bet: 100
Top Award: 6,000, 12,000
Hit Frequency: 41.09%, 41.22%
Theoretical Hold: 2%-15%

Max Win is a new series from WMS Gaming that places mechanical reels in a four-by-five configuration and adds a random "bonus bank" feature using the manufacturer's Transmissive Reels technology.

A transparent LCD overlay on top of the reels is used for animation during the primary game, and for random bonus events. There are four primary games in the series, each with its own game-specific free-spin event. There are three random Max Win free-spin events common to all the base games.

The Max Win bonus features can occur after any winning primary game spin that results in a jackpot of at least double the player's total bet (other than spins triggering one of the game-specific events). All have special bonus symbols that give additional chances at big wins:

"Max Win Credits" awards between one and five times the player's bet for every mushroom reel symbol appearing on the screen. "Max Win Wilds" awards a random number of wilds that will be randomly placed in any position on the reels. "Max Win Multipliers" awards a random win multiplier ranging from 2X to 6X.

Primary games include "Golden Maoi," "Royal Unicorn," "Snow Leopard" and "Panda Riches." The first two feature eight free spins when scattered triggering symbols land; the latter two award 10, 15 or 25 free spins
when three, four or five scattered trigger symbols land, respectively.

By Frank Legato

Frank Legato is editor of Casino Connection and also editor of Global Gaming Business magazine. He has been writing on gaming topics since 1984, when he launched and served as editor of Casino Gaming magazine. Legato, a nationally recognized expert on slot machines, has served as editor and reporter for a variety of gaming publications, including Public Gaming, IGWB, Casino Journal, Casino Player, Strictly Slots and Atlantic City Insider. He has an B.A. in journalism and an M.A. in communications from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. He is the author of the recently published book on gaming, How To Win Millions Playing Slot Machines... Or Lose Trying.