Original Release: Bally, (year?)
A Bally game from simpler times that is among the crop that bridged old-school reels with more modern video features
777 Blazing Double (Bally, ??)
Review by: C. M0use
Woo. Looking up info on old slots is usually difficult and inaccurate at best, but this one was worse than most.
It’s definitely a Bally release, as noted on the cabinet, and almost certainly part of their “Alpha” operating system/cabinet series that was huge 20 or so years ago. But from there it gets messy, because apparently the Alpha games had a ton of potential configurations. Some are “Hot Shots”, some are the earliest Quick Hit mechanical games, etc and so on. They might have progressive jackpots, they might not. You could apparently mix n’ match some of these components.
So if you search for “777 Blazing Double” on YouTube you’ll see a ton of people playing a three-reel version. But that’s not the version I played recently, which was a mechanical five-reel with a lot more paylines. The only video I could find that resembles it was the one seemingly shot in The Void linked below, though it’s not quite the same as that one has a different betting structure.
If you encounter this beast in the wild it’s worth checking out, though, at least if you like your low-roller games that stay fairly non-volatile while having a simple but pleasant enough old-school aesthetic experience (only thing I don’t care for on that front is the “air raid siren” sound on bigger wins). The configuration I had is a 25 cent slot that covers all lines for your minimum bet, only allowing you to adjust up to 50 or 75 cents (1 to 3 credits) per spin to boost payouts. For your quarter minimum bet you cover all 30 possible paylines.
No real bonus features or flash, but that translates into more regular line wins, which in turn means stability. There is a trick to this one you have to be aware of, though. You’re warned on the cabinet, but it’s kinda in the “fine print” that not everyone reads. If you just bet the minimum 25 cents, the 7s are NOT active as a winning symbol. Like at all. Line wins with them will simply not count. To activate them, you have to step up to two credit (50 cent) bets. I didn’t run advanced math on this or whatever, but just from playing by feel for awhile it seemed like this is definitely a worthy investment for the extra line wins it makes possible. That’s close to the realistic minimum you can find to cover all lines on casino floors these days anyway, often you have to pick around to find something at 30 or 40 cents per spin.
Anyway. If you wanna big time it and roll at the mighty three credits (75 cents) per spin maximum, aside from multiplying your regular wins what that buys you is the possibility to win the biggest “blazing 7s with double jackpot” prize. It’s also possible that the bets will be 30-60-90 cents rather than 25-50-75, your mileage may vary.
Whatever the case, it’s an interesting one if you want a low-cost grinder. The one caveat there, if your goal is to sit and chill for awhile and wait for a drink or two, it does NOT move slowly on its own due to the lack of bonus features and whatnot, you’ll have to slow-roll it yourself.
Videos
Very similar game, but not exactly the same