Think back to the first time you ever walked into the MGM Grand as a gambling-age 21-year-old swinging dicc with a pocket full of money — like $100 to your name — and you saw the Sigma Derby machine like a beacon of light off in the distance calling your name. Then you get closer and see that it’s a 25¢ machine and then word gets around that they serve free drinks while you’re playing and people are cheering, going absolutely nuts and it’s the craziest scene of your life as drunk post-grads are throwing around $20s and women are flocking over to get in on the fun.

Schellhaas is playing Wyoming Downs' most popular attraction: a historical horse racing machine. These games have the lights and sounds of a classic casino-style slot machine. But while slots determine whether you win at random, historical racing machines are tied to the outcome of a past horse race.

Those were the days in Vegas before resort fees, parking garage fees, fees for this, fees for that. Those were the days when the $20 trick would land you in a massive suite and you lived like a king for a couple days sucking down drinks at the bar top pretending to play $20 through a video poker machine while crushing four Long Islands to get the night started.

Horse Racing Slot Machine

This is where I snap you out of it and tell you that MGM’s Sigma Derby died November 12, 2018 and won’t be back. There’s only one remaining Sigma in all of Vegas and that’s at The D. Seriously, one left. As of seven days ago, it was in operation.

Our Horse Racing slot machine is one of our HTML 5 games, so it works on both desktop PCs and mobile devices, such as Android phones and iPad tablets. There's no need to install any software or download any apps. Our Horse Racing slot will automatically load and run right in your browser! The machines look and feel like traditional slot machines. But instead of using random numbers, they’re powered by an archive of horse races that have already been run, combining players’ money into pools under the same pari-mutuel wagering system used in live horse racing.

Historical Horse Racing Games

What are your other options? You could buy this one that’s currently for sale on eBay. The starting bid is $25,500 or Make An Offer.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) magically discovered in one of their meetings over a decade ago that if you called slot machines historical horse racing (HHR) and devised new electronic games called horse racing machines (HRM’s), then it would be ok. But it’s not ok. Horse Racing is a retro video slot game with a classic slot machine theme that trumps the whole horse race thematic that you would have expected from the game. The low-key graphics and short paytable, not to mention the casino in the background do not really scream horse racing at all.

From the seller, who doesn’t say if this is the one out of MGM Grand, but there are very few known Sigmas in existence:

Completed with FULL manual copies and parts lists and schematics. Fully working 10 station Sigma Derby. The one, the only. Own this one of a kind machine with the cult following. I did not install all the lights around the top of the unit for the shoot. The system works 100% and has never needed any real overhall besides maybe some switches. It is in as good of condition as possible, works fully and I am still not sure I can part with it. If you know what this is, you dont need more description!

Keep in mind it’s extremely hard to find parts for these games, which is why the MGM Sigma went away. It’s been reported that the house edge on Sigma is between 10 & 20 percent. While that’s huge for the house, it doesn’t matter if you can’t find parts to keep it running.

From AtlasObscura:

The brainchild of the now-defunct Sigma Game Inc., Derby offered a fun new take on the average slot machine experience when it debuted in 1985. Instead of inserting your coins, pulling a lever, and hoping that three symbols aligned, you could wager quarters on mechanical horses, watch them race around a miniature track, and win somewhere between two and 200 times your bet if your combination came in. It soon caught on with gamblers and casinos and flourished well into the 1990s. Caesars had a version with chariots. The Luxor had camels.

Las Vegas Horse Racing Game

As of 2016, there were just five playable Sigmas left in the U.S. That number dwindled fast by 2018 and here we are with one left to bet on. Or you can buy your very own and run one with your buddies out of a pole barn in the middle of Iowa without the Feds knowing what you’re up to.

MGM has one of only 5 playable Sigma Derby games in the United States pic.twitter.com/ePhfoVURnk

Horse Racing Slot Machine Las Vegas

— RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) May 8, 2016

Horse Racing Slot Machine In Las Vegas

• Games Catalog
  • Premiums & Progressives

Fortune Cup™ has come out of the gate and is here to put your floor on the fast track to success. With Fortune Cup, players experience the thrill of a day at the races, on the industry's most advanced multi-station horse racing game. An astounding mechanical track, combined with real-time digital animation of the events, puts players right in the action as they cheer on their stallion to final victory.

Casino Gaming Products

Quick Links

Horse Racing Slot Machine At Harrahs

About Konami Gaming, Inc.

Wild Horses Slot Machine

• Change Location
• Site Map
• Contact Us
• Terms of Use