Are Any Flip-It Machines Left in Casinos?

When I first came to Las Vegas in the eighties, a lot of the casinos had coin-pusher machines. You inserted your quarter and hoped that it that shoved coins in the machine off a ledge and into a chute to be delivered to you. They have them now in arcades, but they disappeared long ago from casinos. Is there a reason? Do any casinos in Nevada still have them?

The name of the "coin-pusher machines" is Flip-It, which we, along with many other gamblers, remember with fondness. 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 is not exactly a big money-maker for the casino, which is most likely why they’ve gone away over the past 15 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.

As the question states, variations of the machine can still be found in arcades, such as at New York-New York and Excalibur (last time we looked); 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 casino for many years. Have you?

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Kevin C Aug-16-2018

Cruise ship casinos do

I've seen flip it machines in many Cruise ship casinos. If you get one with good bonuses, it can be profitable - especially if you are in heavy seas and time your coin drops to the ship rolling!

[email protected] Aug-16-2018

Played it at Cedar Point!

Cedar Point Amusement Park (Ohio) had such mild gambling games when I went there as a teenager several decades ago. They had "flip-it", "Fascination" (a complicated form of "Bingo") and of course Skee Ball and "games of chance" for prizes. I don't know what they have in their "midway" these days.

Ryan Popovich Aug-16-2018

SlotProgressiveGame

Konami Gaming makes a progressive game called Jackpot Streams that mimics this game.

Larry Stone Aug-16-2018

busters

dave & busters has flip it for the kids to win tickets

gaattc2001 Aug-16-2018

Ditto on the cruise ships...

We went on a "Poker Cruise" out of Galveston, Texas in May. They had a couple of flip-it machines in the ship's casino, with packets of dollar bills and individual $10 and $20 bills in there with the quarters. It's hard to calculate the odds for that, but they were getting some play. The rest of the casino, particularly the video poker schedules, was not very impressive. 
The "poker" part of the cruise was separate from the ship's casino, in  its own conference room down in the bottom of the ship, and with its own bar and buffet service. It was run by a separate company that just contracted the space from the ship. That part was very nice, and we might go again.

Randall Ward Aug-16-2018

flip it

Excal had these in the arcade but also in casino in late 90's, not unusual for kids to walk up and start playing in the casino.  Haven't seen one in years but they were great for killing time or waiting.

[email protected] Aug-16-2018

Better with Dollars

The game is better with dollar coins, as they weigh more and thus better chances with winning.

Aug-16-2018

Well....

I've been flipped off in a casino many times, but I don't think that's exactly what you're asking.

Dave Aug-16-2018

Royal Caribbean cruise

I got a casino offer email from Royal Caribbean today. In the linked page, towards the bottom, they showed / featured a Flip It coin pusher. 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/experience/cruise-casinos

Deke Castleman Aug-16-2018

How cool!

Thanks for the link, Dave. It seems that all the old Flip-It machines have migrated to the cruise ships. But from the photo, it appears as if Royal Caribbean stocks its coin-pushers with gold!

O2bnVegas Aug-16-2018

loved Flip-It

Add me to those who loved Flip It back in the day.  Seldom passed one up for at least 5 minutes of play.  It was like a hitting a big jackpot when our coin flipped into one of the little $1, $5, $10 etc. canisters at the back/upper part of the machine.  Kevin Lewis, you are simply too young to remember Flip It machines in casinos.  Too bad.  LOL.

Jokare Aug-16-2018

cruise ships

As others have said I know for sure I've seen them on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity with bills along with quarters. Wife always tries a little and I think the best she got was a $20 bill.

Aug-16-2018

Oh, I remember them

The size of the Area of Doom (where dropped/pushed quarters usually go) compared to the size of the pay chute, combined with the absolute rarity of hitting one of those baskets, made me think the house edge on this game had to be about 70%. Over HALF of the coins on the shelf have NO chance of EVER winding up in the pay chute! I walked away laughing.

Question of the Day - 16 August 2018

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