Are There Any Coin-Pusher Games in Las Vegas?

Are there any coin-pusher games in Vegas?

We get this question around once a year and always enjoy running the answer, even though it doesn't change. People, including us, remember these machines with fondness, so it's a fun stroll down memory lane.

The name of the "coin-pusher machines" is Flip-It.

There’s something hypnotic about inserting a quarter or dollar token into a slot, then watching as spinners “flip it” onto one of various shelves. Mechanical arms push it into a stack of money that's moved closer and closer to the edge of the front spill tray. In fact, some people go so far as calling it addictive.

Flip-It isn't exactly a big money-maker for the casino, which is most likely why they’ve gone away over the past 20 years. Most Flip It enthusiasts play one quarter at a time (we know we did!), then stand and watch for a few moments for an outcome. Not exactly video poker -- where even slow low-rollers can run hundreds of dollars an hour through a machine.

The casinos did, of course, make a little money on Flip-It machines. A lot of quarters spill over the side edges and disappear into the bowels of the machine. That’s the casino hold. Basic strategy is to insert the coins into the center slots, so as to avoid the edges as much as possible.

There are a few more nuances to this game (volatility, jackpot baskets, coin-counting, and the house edge) and if you’re interested, Michael Bluejay tells the whole Flip-It story on wizardofodds.com. At the time it was written (2002), there were still coin-pushers at Golden Gate and Four Queens downtown and the Stratosphere and Sahara on the Strip.

Variations of the machine can still be found in some arcades; rather than coins being returned, you get tickets that can be exchanged for prizes.

But we haven't seen a Flip-It machine in a Nevada casino in nearly two decades. Most of the old quarter-pushers have migrated to cruise-ship casinos. Jean Scott always liked to check the machines when the ship was in choppy waters. "A big wave might shift those quarters to make it easier to score!"

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Gregory Jan-17-2022

Far from Flip-it

There are coin pushers in arcades (I don't know the states that allow these) and they are not your grandma's coin pushers.   These machines have gotten way more sophisticated and at least one that I've seen builds a tower of coins to play for.   Some of those towers look to be well over $100.  See an example here...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7UakSloaOY&t=1226s

Kevin C Jan-17-2022

Definitely still on cruise ships

My wife and I cruise fairly frequently and definitely see coin pushers on ships. I love playing them. Many Carnival ships have a version that adds poker chip sized coins with letters that spell BONUS. If you fit all five BONUS letters, you turn them in at the cage for $100. Once you know the correct strategy, you can actually make money with this game. I come out ahead nearly every cruise.

jay Jan-17-2022

Cruise Ships have them

I have seen them on Cruise ships, but really wondered why given the size and weight. 

Many of the cruise ships had scaled down slot machines. The classic IGT slot came in round top and a square top of about the same size - typically 16" tall, There were also chop tops of about 9" which is most common for Video Poker. All of the above were the same width of about 20.5 inches. Then there were cruise ship slots. They were smaller versions with the width measuring only 16" wide and also less deep and an odd height. If you ended up with one of these parts were impossible to find in the secondary market. 

My understanding this was to curtail the size and weight of what was in the casino - more slots per sq ft, and they weigh less. $25 = 100 quarters = 1.25lbs. Figure 100 machines with $400 float in quarters in each that was over 2000lbs (1 tons)  TITO (ticket in / ticket out) eliminated all of that excess.

Kevin Rough Jan-17-2022

Still Around

My local convenience store in PA had one a few years ago when it got slot machines.  It was always so busy, they eventually got a second.  Someone broke into the store one night and broke into the machines and stole all the quarters.  After that they went back to only having one.  After their being there for 2 years, it was eventually determined that they weren't legal in PA (never mind that both state and local police visit that store every day).

[email protected] Jan-17-2022

Flip its

Its too bad you almost alwys get slot machine questions wrong
Flip its were one of the highest revenue machines in the casinos
Only pulled as casinos no longer wanted to deal with coins and no way to integrate in to the slot accounting systems
You have not seen any in some time as we bought the inventory from Mikhon and never did anything with it

Moss Krivin Jan-27-2022

Here’s the deal

These are legally gambling devices and are only allowed in a few, extremely limited places in the country, although Vegas would obviously qualify. However, they were absolutely NOT big money makers for casinos, and in pretty much the same amount of space, they can install a slot machine, which brings in WAY more revenue. That’s why quarter pushers don’t exist in Vegas anymore, except, perhaps in arcades, where they dispense tickets for prizes, not quarters. Whenever you see these machines in videos loaded with $100 bills and the like…. (as in the link in another comment) they’re in someone’s HOME…and they’re playing their OWN machine. Someone put his own money, in his own machine, in his own house….and filmed it. No business owner is going to take an enormous amount time to build huge “quarter towers,” and at the same time lose large amounts of money when they topple. It simply doesn’t happen. As far as Flip-it was concerned, people landed one in the tiny “buckets,” virtually never.

Donnyco Jun-28-2022

Coin Pusher at Excalibur?

A few years ago there were several Coin Pushers at the arcade game section at Excalibur. But you could only win tickets and trade them for prizes. I'm not sure if they're stil there, I haven't been there for a while.

Like Moss Krivin said, the ones on Youtube are definitely self owned. You can find them on Ebay and I came across a tabletop version on https://www.arcadro.com 
I have one from the 80's in my Man Cave. It's definitely one of my favorite gaming machines.

Question of the Day - 17 January 2022

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