RIP Las Vegas Nickel Machines

[Immy]

Of all the pictures I've posted on TNet, this is the saddest.

Yesterday I discovered that the last six nickel machines at the El Cortez Hotel, in fact in all of Las Vegas, were mothballed a few days ago. The chairs you see in the pic are where they once stood. It was a depressing moment, and it means the end of my casino nickel searching after 37 years. I will have to be content with the 59 quarter machines and 9 half dollar slots that are left, though they obviously won't be an adequate substitute. I'll say more in my Casino Royale thread, including a nickel stat retrospective eventually, but I wanted to post here for better visibility.

Thanks nickel slots. You've added volumes to my collection and untold enjoyment to my free time.

 

[Crow]

The second was a Nickle Columbia Machine
View attachment 2231735

orignal

View attachment 2231736

the 3rd. I Only found the Arm.

How old are they? they look ancient.

Here is one from 1964.

Crow

 

[releventchair]

Been years since we made a late night casino run when ladyfriend figured it was the right night.
We'd save quarters in between visits. Sometimes it could be a year.

My limit being a whopping $40 loss regardless that had me not hit high stakes unless I hit elesewhere.
Ya cheap but fun.
Dirty coin soiled fingers.

Then one night we arrived with our bags of dirty quarters to a quiet scene. No more clank clank clank of a win. Or the extended rapid clank clank clank of a real win when a random number generator finally coughed up something compatible.
Odd how much effect that had on us.
A couple visits since; maybe.






.
.
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[gold-dog]

Can you purchase the nickel machines and set them up elsewhere?

 

[jeff of pa]

How old are they? they look ancient.

Here is one from 1964.

View attachment 2231756

Crow

I Cant remember Correctly the dime machine Had a Few Dimes in it , My Memory Says 1949 Merks Which is Impossible

So was either 1939 Merks or 1949 Roosies
But I Swear they were Merks

 

[unclemac]

I remember back in the late 70s one casino would lure you in by offering a free roll of nickels. Are there any machines that pay in Morgan silver dollar anymore. They had a few of those back then also.

my best slot score was $40 on a free roll of nickels! Bought breakfast for all 4 of us on that.

 

[Immy]

As of today the El Cortez is down to 23 quarter machines. Will 2026 see them gone completely?

Hi again everyone. Here's another update.

As of this summer, the El Cortez is down to only 16 quarter machines. This is now so few, that there aren't enough for all the players, so getting an open machine can be a challenge. It just makes no sense. A quick glance in the casino area that has them shows all 16 machines occupied, yet only a handful of people playing the paper ticket machines.

Plus the room has four Cummins jet sorters for people who don't want to walk to the cage to cash in their coins. All for only 16 machines?? Two would be more than adequate. I suspect they're keeping them at least in part because people use them a lot instead of Coinstars for their regular change cash-ins and don't mind the casino taking a cut.

At this point I think Circus Circus may have more coin-op quarter than the Cortez. Could they all be gone before 2027? We'll see...

 

[jeff of pa]

First Time at Atlantic City, I'm almost Sure I Screwed up.
I Was Expecting Coin Payouts. Was Hearing a Lot of Dings ,
Seeing a Lot Of What I Considered Winning Rolls, But No Quarters in the Trays

Wasn't till one Day Later I heard you Needed to Push a Button to Cash Out

was the last of My Gambling

penn national's hollywood casino is Just Over The mountain From Me in PA. I Never Set foot in the Place !

 

[Tesorodeoro]

What kids have not thrown a few bucks away sneaking quarters into the slots. I once put a quarter in a slot as I walked through the casino in Vegas and won $100. Bought dinner for everyone. Then my only other slot experience I took $100 in quarters at an Indian casino. Did max bet each time and it only took 10 minutes to lose that $100. Walked away feeling like an idiot. So overall I’ve lost maybe $150 on slots over 40 some years of gambling.