Casinos that promote slot tournaments have player mailing lists to inform players of upcoming tournaments and offer special room rates and other complimentary goodies. In the most common approach to a slot tournaments, an area is set aside with an appropriate number of machines to accommodate the affair, anywhere from 10 or so machines for very small tournaments held periodically through the day, to 30 or more machines for the more elaborate affairs. An entry fee of nominal amounts for the smaller tournaments, usually ten dollars to three or four hundred for the big events. The entry fee includes a room for 2 or 3 nights and allows for a guest to share the room. The tournament is divided into sessions, each session lasting for a predetermined length of time usually in the area of 15 or 20 minutes.
Machines usually start with a preset number of play credits.
The object of the game is use up all the credits and rack up as many points as possible in the allotted time frame. When all the players are ready the machines are activated and a frenzy of play begins. Players will depress the spin button machine gun style for the entire length of the session or untill the preset amount of credit play has been used up. Players with the most points at the end of the session win and go on to the next level. Machines used for tournaments are often fitted with special programs that allow for more jackpots and thus a large point total.