Press Your Luck

Manufacturer: WMS Gaming
Platform: CPU-NXT2
Format: Five-reel, 20-line or 40-line video slot
Denomination: .01 through 100.00
Max Bet: 100
Top Award: 500 credits times total bet
Hit Frequency: 36.43%, 59.44%
Theoretical Hold: 4%-13%

This is the WMS Gaming take on the classic game show Press Your Luck, thanks to the manufacturer snatching up the license when it became available. (Shuffle Master released a version of the game back when it produced slots.)

The base game is a five-reel video slot in 20-line or 40-line configuration. The machine features a giant game show-style bonus board, with credit amounts surrounding a vertical video screen.

Bonus symbols on the first, third and fifth reels trigger a “Press Your Luck Pick Feature,” awarding the player one of two main bonus events, or a bonus credit award.

One of the two is a free-spin bonus. “Whammy” symbols (the cartoon demon from the game show that ends a player’s shot at money) appearing on the second and fourth reels during a free spin are wild. The player collects the four available Whammy symbols as they land, and gets an extra bonus for collecting all of them. A Whammy can also “backfire,” causing the player to lose a previously collected Whammy. Free spins play out until all four Whammy symbols are collected, so “backfires” actually extend the free-spin round.

The “Big Board Bonus” activates the big bonus display. When it is triggers, the player is awarded one to three turns on the Big Board, with the bonus amounts flashing until landing on an accumulated amount. The player then selects from 30 “hot spots,” which grant credit amounts, multipliers or additional turns on the Big Board. Players pick hot spots until a Whammy appears, which ends the bonus round on the Big Board.