Visiting Vegas is unlike riding a bicycle; you probably going to forget it. The load-the-guests-with-free-booze approach of the casinos works wonders – memories from Vegas are as hazy as the early morning hours on an autumn day in Nebraska.

If you’ve never been to Vegas, well, do an IMDb search for “Vegas” and binge yourself to oblivion. Or rather, take advantage of those sick days and get yourself to the most bling-bling oasis to be found among the deserts of this planet.

The Strip, the main street, cluttered with the most whacked architectural creations in North America (kudos to Macau for going even whackier) actually has a city around it. Not many know this, but there are real people, families and stuff, living in Las Vegas; 603,488 of them on last count in 2013.

But why are we talking about the good folks of Nevada? No idea. Let’s get back to the casino floor and order four drinks. Whatever happens in Vegas is washed down with copious amounts of alcohol.

It’s Not Your Old Man’s Slots

Every casino you walk into in the city, you will be greeted by rows and rows of slot machines. Back in the day, this section of the casino was mostly occupied by elderly ladies with a special fondness to cigarettes and an eclectic fashion sense, and Japanese tourists. It is a match made in heaven – elderly ladies from Florida and Japanese tourists. In the words of the persons formally known as Tom Cruise and Renée Zellweger, they complete each other. They just do.

But those days are long gone. First, no smoking, and Japanese tourists have gotten a bit more confident. They now dare venture into the depth of the casino, playing craps like there’s no organized bus tour to the Grand Canyon tomorrow.

The crowd is not the only thing that’s changed. The machines themselves, you’re not going to recognize them. Forget about cherries and number 7, forget about buckets of quarters and pulling a handle over and over again like a factory worker – that’s your old man’s slots. Today’s slots are a whole new thing, more like the love child of an Xbox and R2D2.

Kidding aside (and apologies for R2D2 for the earthly reference), slots have made a long way since being referred to as ‘one-arm bandits.’ They now offer a very cool betting experience. They let you put some cash at risk, not too much, just enough to get your adrenaline up and running, and they have awesome graphics and pretty rocking soundtracks.

High Def Is In Da Slot

One prime example for this is the Live From Texas slot, a ZZ Top-themed giant of a machine with a super high def screen and a 5.1 surround sound chair. And unlike the classic 3-reel slot that you needed to get matching symbols in the middle row, this puppy has 5 reels and 30 pay lines, meaning ,there are 30 different combinations you can hit to win some cash. All this while the ZZ boys are killing it, just for you.

Some of the slot machines in casinos offer eye-popping jackpots, numbers too long to recount here. With enough patience and diligence you probably, most certainly, almost definitely won’t win the jackpot, but it’s the hope that counts.

Say Hello To WSW (World Slots Web)

Where slots really took off as far as features, and interest, and a complete game experience, is the online arena. There are lots of awesome online slot machines games, more than you can imagine. Most gaming sites and online casinos offer north of 100 different slot games. That’s not little.

Online slots, sometimes refer to as video slots (now there are even 3D slots), are comparable to any other computer or online games out there in terms of graphics and animation. It is a true gaming experience, with all that it entails plus, of course, you can win big on online slots just like you would with land machines.

This is just the beginning. A new species of slots is in the works now: skill-based slots. A complete new layer will be added to some slot games, one that awards players for performance. It is an interesting twist to the game that’s considered a game of chance since the dawn of humanity; well, ok, since it was invented in 1887 – wait, was there actually anything before 1887?

It will without a doubt upgrade the slot experience, turning it to a full-fledge computer game with the ability to pocket some cash. The whole gaming industry is shifting toward that direction. It is enough to notice the meteoric rise of daily fantasy platforms (and their tongue-in-cheek insistence that “it is not gambling”) to realize that the future of gaming combines skill and the chance to win money.

Unfortunately, if you are reading this on US soil, you won’t be able to enjoy and twin spin the hell out of super cool slots online. Next time you visit your ‘Canadian girlfriend’ though, don’t forget to check it out.