Classics

Ashley Powers (Los Angeles Times): Las Vegas — Jeanette White gripped five quarters with dirt-stained fingers and plopped them into a boxy video-poker machine named Fortune 1: Clang! Clang! Clangclangclang!

The machine's glowing screen, with graphics evoking the antique arcade game Pong, wished her "GOOD LUCK." She pressed some buttons - tap, tap - and ended up with a pair of eights and another of kings.

She was rewarded with the satisfying sound of a win: Clinkclinkclinkclinkclinkclinkclink!

The Eastside Cannery, a hotel-casino east of the Las Vegas Strip, has earned White's loyalty - and a notable amount of publicity - by recently dedicating part of its gaming floor to classic slots - those that actually use coins.

Maybe 15 percent of U.S. casinos, mostly in older and smaller markets, still offer the throwback games, according to the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers.

The Cannery's 50 poker, keno and reel-spinning machines belch nickels and quarters. They also personify a fading era, a Vegas of glittery showgirls, smoky gambling halls and 99-cent shrimp cocktails.

Now shrimp are pricier, and showgirls rare.

-eddie