If you haven't been to a casino in the past few years the new style of slot machines will surprise you. Gone are the coins and the dull click-click-click of the spinning reels. Soon I expect the pull handles to disappear.

Slots are the main money earners for casinos today and usually the worst bet for gamblers, so slot makers have made the games more enticing by adding stunning graphics and compelling audio.

WMS Industries makes a slot game called Queen of the Wild that has reel symbols that are about a third larger than on traditional slot games.

Although my favorite pastime when I visit Atlantic City casinos is to play Texas Hold 'em, I also like the penny slots on occasion. But don't let the appellation penny fool you, many of the games allow you to play 500 to 2000 pennies at a time.

I was at Harrah's this past January 1st when I hit a Mega Big Win on Queen of the Wild which paid 103,920 pennies or $1,039.20 on a three dollar bet. Three more gorillas and the payoff would have been 2,250 dollars.