If you’ve been to MGM Grand or The Venetian in the past few months you might have noticed the massive 9 foot-long Fortune Cup mechanical horse racing game. It’s possible that you didn’t see the horses racing. Maybe you would have noticed the large video board showing a digital version of the race. If you missed those visuals it’s possible that you heard the track announcer calling the race at a potentially obscene volume. This game is a monster!
All of these bells and whistles were for a new horse racing game that was only in a testing phase. Following months of success on the Las Vegas Strip under Nevada’s New Innovation Beta (NIB) program, Fortune Cup is now live at four locations with more coming soon. The game will soon expand across North America.
Fortune Cup is currently available in casino on and off the Vegas Strip:
Vegas Strip: MGM Grand, The Venetian
Coming Soon on Vegas Strip: Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, New York-New York
Off-Strip: The Orleans, Red Rock Casino
This new game brings modern technology improvements to the horse racing games you’ve seen in casinos over the year. The best feature of all might be that the minimum bet is $1. You’ll never leave the game with filthy hands from using coins.
Here’s a video of a Fortune Cup game in action at The Venetian.
Fortune Cup features a 9-foot wide mechanical track with eight horses that travel freely and independently across the course. There’s one major difference you can see from the other new horse racing games right away. The horses’ actions are mirrored by real-time digital animation on connected LCD screens in a sports broadcast format.
Unlike Sigma Derby, there are no quarters with this horse racing game. The game uses a bill acceptor similar to a slot machine. The minimum bet is $1 per race. Each player will place their bets on touchscreen stations. The screens show race stats, horse odds, mystery progressive jackpots, and comprehensive bet options for win, place, and quinella.
Fortune Cup Betting Screen
“Mechanical horse racing is a unique attraction and beloved casino classic for its shared social experience, fun creative ingenuity, and irresistible nostalgia. Konami’s Fortune Cup is bringing that dynamic back to the casino with top quality and advanced features for players to enjoy for years to come,” said Tom Jingoli, executive vice president & chief commercial officer at Konami Gaming, Inc. “Fortune Cup has proven entertainment value both in the legacy of the product category and Konami’s roots as an amusement company for nearly 50 years.”
He continues, “Fortune Cup is designed to provide new entertainment options to players and appeal to a broad audience, which we’ve seen affirmed in several ways by outcomes and results from launch locations,” said Jingoli. “It carries the most advanced technology in the history of this product category, without compromising the quintessential charm. The response from players has been strong and we’re looking forward to continued growth.”
Fortune Cup Horses Racing
Nothing will replace the charm of Sigma Derby but Fortune Cup does a good job of bringing a horse racing game into this century. Vintage gamblers will miss the quarters and choppy running style from Sigma Derby.
Gamblers with a taste for modern amenities will like many features in Fortune Cup. The TITO (Ticket In Ticket Out) system, charging station, jackpots, video screen, players club slots for comps, betting options are just some of the modernization in casino horse racing game.
