When it comes to gambling, there may not be a bigger loser in the entire world than John Daly. The professional golfer — and one-time PGA Championship winner — estimates that he lost somewhere between $55 million and $57 million(!) gambling between the years 1991-2007.
- Trade Loyalty Points for Cash
- Win Cash in Sit & Go Leaderboards
- Play Poker on Mobile
And just when you think Daly smartened up … well, Daly didn’t smarten up. In fact, he was spotted trying his hand at some slot machines after his first-round two-over-par at this year’s PGA Championship.
But it’s not just gambling; a look at the subsections on his Wikipedia page reads like a what’s what of modern American excess. The list, in full, and in order: Alcohol, Health, Gambling, Marriages, Lawsuits, Politics, Video Games.
So of course Daly should have his name and likeness attached to his very own slot machine.
And with that, welcome to the NJ mobile casino game known as “John Daly Spin It & Win It,” courtesy of Spearhead, and exclusive in New Jersey to the MGM properties, including Party Casino.
So let’s grow out our beard, put on some ridiculous clothes, light up a lung dart, pour ourselves a tall one, and … lose some money.
The facts
Much like the man himself, this is a highly volatile game, with a return-to-player of 94.78%, but with the chance to win up to 20,000x your bet on one spin of the slot.
It’s a typical five-reel, three-row slot, and there are 243 ways to win. You don’t need to get three (or more) symbols in a row, but they have to be on consecutive reels.
The big kahuna here is a picture of Daly himself; get five of them across the reels, win 25X. After that, in order, is his lion covers, a four pack of “beer soda,” golf carts, and the classic ace-to-ten playing cards.
There are also a ton of bells and whistles attached to the game, including “expanding wins,” where the winning symbols lock and a re-spin occurs. If the re-spin keeps adding to the win, the reels keep locking and re-spinning. There are also random wilds, in which after the spin, Daly will hit between one and five golf balls onto the screen, resulting in wilds. There are also “walking wilds,” in which a wild symbol will expand to fill the entire row.
Additionally, there are three bonus games: “Free For All,” in which you get eight free spins with a chance at five more; “Big Swing,” in which Daly fires off a drive and the multiplier keeps multiplying until the ball hits something; and “Sticky Balls,” in which … well, I didn’t want to Google that.
Look and feel
This is the best part. A cartoon John Daly — complete in a loud outfit, Oakley sunglasses, and a cigarette dangling from his mouth — is right there on the screen for every spin of the wheel.
And if you win at least as much as you risked on a spin, Daly leaps in the air and lets out a “Yeah!”
Each spin of the wheel sounds like Daly striking a golf ball, and, well, it’s pretty exciting when you win a nickel and Daly leaps in the air.
The graphics overall are very cartoon-y, no one is going for real life here. But it’s … cute? I’m struggling for words. I mean, the cartoon Daly is cute, but the real-life Daly is not ever confused for cute. I’m torn. Let’s just play the darned game.
The results
Well, much like Daly, I lost everything. I somehow poured $20 into this game, at a dime a spin. I hit one bonus — the Free For All – in which I only 4x’d my money (though I was treated to a leggy cartoon blonde on the screen, so that’s nice, I guess).
Spin after spin were losses or tiny wins. Clearly, the game is set up for big wins and not gradual victories. I came up on the wrong side of variance. These things happen. I also want to put on a pair of colorful pants and smoke a cigarette.
