Judge Judy Slot Machine

Courtroom drama has been a mainstay of television since the 1950s. The Perry Mason TV show launched an entire genre of scripted television shows featuring lawyers, judges, and specialinvestigators working to bring justice to random people on a weekly basis.  Another scripted drama from that era, broadcast during the daytime, was Divorce Court. Like the Perry Mason show,Divorce Court was popular enough to stay on television for many years. It also proved there was a day time audience for court room TV.

From the late 1950s to the mid-1970s various daytime courtroom dramas were presented on various television networks. Few of them became popular despite the scripted format. Based on a conceptoriginally marketed in 1975, the 1981 daytime reality show The People’s Court introduced binding arbitration in a simulated courtroom setting to television audiences. Now instead of actorsperforming in a dramatic production real cases with litigants who were seeking resolution in small claims courts were being presented.

Although The People’s Court was cancelled in 1993 Judge Judy won her own daytime reality court show contract in 1996. Like other reality show judges she is a retired judge with courtroomexperience. Judy Sheindlin quickly made a name for herself as a stern, resourceful arbiter of litigants’ claims. She has proven to be the most successful and popular of the daytime reality showjudges, easily outperforming her ex-husband Jerry Sheindlin, who was the third judge to preside over The People’s Court (from 1999 to 2001).

Judge Judy’s show format is slightly dramatized for effect but the judge asks real questions and searches for the facts of each case. She prefers short, concise answers to her questions and maymake acerbic remarks to litigants who challenge her or prove to be argumentative. The show devotes as much time to each case as makes it interesting to the audience. Some episodes present only 1case and some episodes may present 3 or 4 cases. Litigants may be interviewed by a reporter after their cases are decided.

The show maintains a certain decorum that is lacking in other shows, although enforcement of the audience policies is not consistent. Generally speaking, the audience is expected to be silentduring the proceedings and to refrain from applause or laughter but sometimes the judge permits an audience reaction to a specially sharp point she makes. Most of the time the judge uses her pento address the audience when she feels compelled to silence them.

IGT brought out the Judge Judy slot game in 2012, receiving widespread attention in the land based casino market. The game has received mixed reactions. Players report varying successes with thegame, which is partly due to the random nature of slot machines in general. However some of the player issues may be due to the game’s progressive multiplier, which requires considerable gameplay occur before it reaches substantial values.

Judge Judy is a 5 reel video slot using the 720 Ways to Win Multiway Xtra format in which prizes are paid from both left to right and right to left. Winning combinations must be contiguous acrossthree or more reels from either left to right or right to left.  Symbols may be stacked as on any of the reels and the game offers two bonus levels: Solo and Community.

The game uses a dual console that allows two players to participate in shared bonus round.  During normal play the number of spins and amounts wagered gradually improved the multiplier usedon the next Community bonus game.

• There is no Wild symbol in the base game although players can choose one for one of the bonus games.
• The game’s logo is a Scatter symbol, paying for any positions on the reel when three or more appear.
• The Bonus symbol triggers various bonus games. The symbols fly off the reel and the player chooses on at random, revealing which bonus game is to be played.

The Leather Armchair is a normal symbol in the game representing Judge Judy’s chair in the courtroom. The chair spins around when this symbol pays a prize.

Players can wager from 50 to 300 credits per spin. The cabinet contains several buttons with preset wager amounts.

• The Max Bet button sets the wager to 300 credits.
• There are three information windows just below the playing reels on the primary (lower) screen.
• The Credits window shows how many credits (worth 1 penny each) you have left t play with.
• The Bet window shows what your current wager amount is.
• The Win window displays the total of all the prizes paid on the last spin.

When three Bonus symbols appear the player is prompted to choose one. If the Enter The Courtroom bonus is awarded a second screen drops down with three doorways.

The player chooses one of the doorways and is awarded a prize in credits that are multiplied by the Bet Multiplier (X1 to X6 representing 50 to 300 credits).

When the Bonus symbols appear and the player chooses the Judge Judy Rules bonus a second screen drops down with 25 case files and four multiplier options on the right.

The player is prompted to choose case files in order to collect credits and points toward earning a multiplier. Whichever multplier’s progress bar is completed first is awarded.

The multiplier is then applied to the credits the player has won in the bonus round.

When the Bonus symbols appear and the player chooses the You Make The Call bonus a second screen appears with 12 medallions.

The player is prompted to choose a medallion. A credit award is revealed and a third screen displays the summary of a case brought before the judge.

The player is prompted to choose either the Defendant or the Plaintiff. The game then determines which one Judge Judy chooses. If the player guesses the right decision the game awards amultiplier.

Three cases are chosen and the accumulated multipliers are then applied to the total of the credits awarded in the bonus round.

When three Bonus symbols appear a Group bonus game may be awarded. If there are two players actively betting on the double console the other player will be invited to the bonus round. Otherwisethe computer assumes the role of the other player.

The game announces “The Motion to Spin the Wheel has been Granted” and the player is prompted to look up to the higher screen where the wheel is positioned.

The wheel spins around and reveals a prize, either a credit prize, a free spins bonus game, or a Plead Your Case game.

One of the players is prompted to choose a symbol to serve as a Wild symbol in the five free spins. If either player takes too long the computer chooses for them. The computer always chooses asecond modifier for the game. It could be a multiplier or additional free spins or an additional pick.

The upper screen is replaced with a 5 reel, 3 row set of video slot reels. The reels are spun 5 times. Both Wild symbols may appear in the spins. Some Wild symbols may be locked in place.

Each player is assigned a role, either as Defendant or Plaintiff. A scenario is described to explain what the purpose of the lawsuit is.

The computer prompts the Defendant to choose a reason to give to the judge. The game then decides whether the judge accepts the Defendant’s explanation.

This is about as complicated and sophisticated a slot game as anything you will see in land based casinos up to about the year 2014 or 2015. The five bonus game options, the two screens, the dualconsole, and the multi-step bonus rounds all give players something to vie for even after playing for a while.

The interactive nature of the game, where two players work together to win bonus prizes, is unusual despite the fact that networked slot games have been available since the 1990s. IGT obviouslyput a lot of thought into the game.

The formats of the bonus games that simulate real court room cases in presentation are well done, even allowing for humor in some of the player responses. One cannot help but smile when JudgeJudy agrees that the price of gas was too high, or just simply “Vegas”, as the defendant’s explanation for their part of the case.

Throughout the game you hear the judge saying things to litigants in real sound bites from the show. Sometimes these clips appear to be relevant to what is displayed on the screen and the gamemay be triggering the clips based on patterns.

Each bonus game has a voice over introduction from the show’s announcer and in some of them Judge Judy herself is seen talking to the player via an appropriately chosen clip from the show. Shemay agree with the player’s choice or she may rebuke the player with a slight verbal jab.

The game is not as popular as the television show but some players swear they look for the game every time they go to the casino, so either the game’s fans or the judge’s fans are very loyal. Thegame is a social slot designed to engage two players at a time, confirming that IGT is well aware of the fact that people often visit casinos in small groups or as couples. By encouraging playersto interact with each other as they play slots the game increases the time they spend at its console.

A more recent version of the game has been tied into IGT’s Powerbucks Wide Area Progressive games, which promise larger and more frequent prizes for low denomination slot players. Players have tobet the maximum to be eligible for a progressive jackpot but the game pays a static jackpot when less then maximum amount is wagered. Another Powerbucks feature introduces varying bonus levelsbased on several different wagering thresholds.