Montbleu Casino Sigma Derby

I was checking for lift tickets for my upcoming Tahoe ski trip and look what I came across – an article praising the fun of Sigma Derby. You can read about The Greatest Casino Game to Play After Skiing in Lake Tahoe  at the Montblue Casino on the website tahoelifttickets.net.

Matlock and Sigma Derby

Over on the Five Hundy by Midnight Facebook Fan Club page there is an awesome screen shot picture of Matlock and a Sigma Derby machine. With a topper.

Good old Andy.

Sigma Derby for Sale

There is a working Sigma Derby for sale on e-bay right now. Buy it now price is $24,500. In Bolder City, NV.

edit – the sale has ended but you can still see the listing. Looks a lot like the one in the Matlock screen shot.

Free Fight Tickets at MGM Grand for Sigma Derby Facebook Group

Click on over to the Sigma Derby Facebook group and be one of the 1st 50 to take advantage of the offer that VP of MGM slots, Mike Gatten, has posted and you’ll get 2 free tickets to the September 17th Mayweather vs. Ortiz boxing match.

2012 Sigma Derby World Championship

The Sigma Derby Facebook group is in the very early planning stages of the 2012 Sigma Derby World Championships. The event is to be held at the Mont Blue Resort in South Lake Tahoe. Check the Facebook post asking for event date suggestions. I hope this comes together as this should be a fun event for Sigma Derby Fans.

Sigma Derby Yelp Page

For you Yelpers here is the link to the Sigma Derby Yelp page

Tough to Get a Seat at MGM’s Sigma Derby

I went out to Las Vegas on June 18th and while I mostly played poker I did try to get in some time at MGM’s Sigma Derby. Try, that is the operative word as 2 out of 3 times I stopped by there were no empty seats and my seat opened up at MGM’s poker room before a seat opened up at the Sigma Derby. The one time I did get on the game I had fun but I also had the same result of losing all my quarters. All-in-all it was a lot of  fun with a few wins in between the losses, a few beers with very quick and attentive cocktail service, and hanging with a fun crowd. No long shots hit while I was playing but not for the lack of everyone dropping the quarters and pushing the bet buttons to max out on those non-winning long shots. I love it when the entire group is cheering for the 200-1 bet to win. I probably played for 90 minutes before my change cup was empty. I don’t know anywhere else in Las Vegas you can have that much fun for just a roll of quarters.

After Sigma Derby I went over the the Lions Share slot machine to see if I could hit that huge $2,235,641 jackpot. I did get a whole bunch of play but never hit anything big and never got back to even but I had to take my chance as two million and change is way too big for me not to take a shot.

I’ll give Lions Share another shot on my Labor Day trip and maybe, just maybe, I’ll also hit that mythical 200-1 long shot at Sigma Derby. If I don’t it sure won’t be from a lack of trying.

Still just one Sigma Derby in Las Vegas at the MGM

The MGM is still the only Las Vegas home of the Sigma Derby game. I wonder how much longer this game will last.

I really don’t have any new news so here are some videos of a Sigma Derby-like game found in Japan.

And a video of what looks to be a home game. Maybe you can find one on ebay.

The December Trip

This trip out involved a 4 day seminar, some Christmas shopping , a shot at Lion’s Share, a town full of cowboys, and of course Sigma Derby.

I arrived late on Sunday staying at Aria for a 4 day seminar that went from 7:30 to 6:30 Monday through Wednesday and a half day on Thursday, flying out that night. This trip didn’t leave much personal time and with the group dinner each night gambling time was cut to about 1 hour a night. What do you do with 1 hour – Sigma Derby!

The game was fun and with the rodeo finals that Sunday I arrived there were a few cowboy hat wearing folks at the game my 1st night. I was happy to see all the stations in operation and the game had most of the seats full each time I went to play. I played for a few rolls of quarters on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday cashing out with a small profit on two of the three days and a one roll loss on the other day. Drink service was quick, as it always is, and the crowd was having fun and very talkative.

There were a lot of Canadian’s at the Sigma Derby this week and a few of them told of a high tech Sigma Derby they have up there somewhere. I wish I could remember the name of the casino, I guess I’ll have to search the web and I’ll post that info later.

On Tuesday after my big Sigma Derby win (about $3.00) I wandered through the MGM over to the Lion’s Share slot machine. I put in $100 and got it up to about $150 a few times but never hit my goal of a double up to cash out. I got a lot of play but eventually the -EV of the game caught up to me and I went down to zero credits. It would have been a nice holiday treat to win the jackpot which was that night at $2,223,409.23

Labor Day Trip

Over the labor Day Weekend I went to the MGM 3 different times and not once was I able to get on the Sigma Derby game. Now I am not too upset about not being able to play as this means the game’s popularity continues and that should reduce the risk of losing the last Sigma Derby game in Las Vegas.

A group of us were staying at the Mirage, mostly losing money at the craps tables. I was able to talk the group into heading down to the MGM for a Sigma Derby session with the promise of some cheap gambling and rapid drink service. We walked up to the game around 2pm on Saturday and saw that not only were all the stations operational, they were all full with a small crowd standing around watching and waiting for seats (“I got next”) to open. A little disappointed the group went off the the craps tables and I went over to the poker room for an open seat in a 2/5 NLHE game as I find the MGM craps tables are evil money hungry devils. The craps dealers are great, don’t get me wrong, it is just that my money stands no chance at those tables.

The group took a pounding at the craps tables and on the way out they stopped off at the poker room to tell me they were leaving and that the Sigma Derby game was still full. After a few more hours of going nowhere at the poker table I cashed out my $15 win and took a stroll by the Sigma Derby machine and it was still full. I would make two more trips to MGM on Sunday and Monday and I never found the machine with an empty seat. I guess I needed to find another reason to visit the MGM and that reason is now the Lion’s Share slot machine.

The Lion’s Share slot machine is the lone hold over from what was once a bank of dollar slots with a local progressive. The main jackpot has never paid off so the machine has to stay on the floor until the jackpot hits, or so the story goes. The machine is old enough that it may be the only one at the MGM that does not have ticket in – ticket out installed. All payouts are hand pays and the max credit bet is $3. With the size of the jackpot I can’t believe that there isn’t a line waiting to play. But I guess the fact that it hasn’t paid off in years and years maybe it is wise not to play.

Oh, the jackpot is $2,218,077.41.