"At first it sounds like an oxymoron: A slot machine league.

No, really.

Normally a solitary pastime, the slots are a team sport at Potawatomi Bingo Casino on Monday nights. Four rows of five slot machines are used.

And the hypnotic devices won't steal your money because everyone in the league plays free. The casino is awarding $29,000 in prizes.

Forty teams are competing. Each team has four members and one alternate. You know, in case one person goes down with a button-pressing injury.

"I believe it filled up within two days, and we have a waiting list for our next one," probably in fall, said Nancy Ziolkowski, the casino's marketing director.

She got the idea from a casino in California, but it's a new concept for the Midwest, where leagues are most often for bowlers and softball players. It might be for you if you like combining the raw athleticism of slot machine play with the boisterous enthusiasm of the audience on "Let's Make A Deal."

On any given night, the members of each team take turns playing on the same slot machines for exactly eight minutes. The idea is to rack up as many points as possible."

Get the Story:
Jim Stingl: Here's a league with bells and whistles (The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 5/9)