Charles Fox was a prominent, and fiercely radical, Whig politician of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He was, in fact, the first British Foreign Secretary but, while he was a famous champion of civil liberty, he was an equally infamous drunkard, gambling addict and libertine. Indeed, Fox was said to have debts ‘like Caesar’s’ but, thanks in large part to his irresitable charisma, his political ambitions were hindered more by his hostility towards King George III than his financial situation.
By 1772, while still in his early twenties, Fox had already accrued £20,000 in gambling debts, which he asked his father, Henry Fox, First Baron Holland, to pay off. Baron Holland died in July, 1774, but the previous November had agreed, once again, to pay off debts ‘not exceeding the sum of one hundred thousand pounds’ on behalf of his son. Simultanenously, Frederick Howard, Fifth Earl of Carlisle, stood Charles Fox security for an additional sum, somewhere between £14,000 and £16,000, including interest payments of up to £2,000 a year.
By 1775, Carlisle was no longer able to service the debt, which was the equivalent of approximately one-sixth of his personal annual income at the time, and was forced to mortgage his home in St. James’s Place, London, and retire to Yorkshire. That November, James Harris, First Earl of Malmesbury, wrote that Charles Fox, who was a personal friend, ‘was not worth a farthing’ and, a year later, ‘had spent £175,000’. Fox continued his lifestyle, unrestrained and unrepetant; he was declared bankrupt between 1781 and 1784. It was not until late in his life, after his friends and family freed him from debt and provided him with a comfortable income, that he finally abandoned gambling.
An update from Gregg Fisher and his display. His Guinness world record holding collection will feature as part of the Casino Chip & Gaming Tokens Collectors Club (ccgtcc) annual convention. Held at South Point Hotel/Casino, Las Vegas from 17th to 19th June if you’re in the area do check it out. As you can see Gregg has been kind enough to give a meaning nod to HotChip.co.uk as part of his display. We’re honoured!
The one and only Gregg Fisher (world record holder for the largest collection of $1 casino chips) has been taking the opportunity to build on his record breaking collection. This time by visiting the Golden Gate Casino in downtown Las Vegas, as the venue has a new $1 chip.
Keep an eye out for another update from Gregg in a week or so, as he’ll be putting his Guinness world record holding collection of display at the Casino Chip & Gaming Tokens Collectors Club (ccgtcc) annual convention at South Point Hotel/Casino, Las Vegas from 17th – 19th June.
Game of Thrones Powerstacks is exclusively designed for Microgaming by Slingshot Studios, and with their valuable input, I might add. The slot is a Slingshot Studios creation and features a 5×4 grid and 40 paylines. It is a slot game that comes via the Power Stacks network with several jackpots available.
Game of Thrones is a branded slot. Many of the characters from the series are on the reels; it launches in August 2021 with a variety of RTP configurations where the most generous has a theoretical return value of 96.20%, very high volatility. The maximum win in this superb slot is 25000x the stake. Microgaming has have been here before with their other releases, Game of Thrones 243, along with a 15 payline version
Game of Thrones Powerstacks Symbols
The low pay symbols are the four great house emblems Greyjoy, Stark, Lannister and Targaryen, worth between 2 to 2.5 x the bet for a line of five. The higher paying symbols are the five key figures from the drama Tormund Giantsbane, the Night King, Sansa, Dany and Jon Snow, who pay out between 5 to 7.5x for five on a line. The games logo is the Wild and can pay out as much as 25x for five of a kind.
Game of Thrones Powerstacks Features
Let’s start with the Power Stacks indicator. It’s visible on the left-hand side and randomly displays symbols. The displayed symbol is Super Stacked for the current spin, with Stacks added to all 5 reels. All symbols bar the Wild and Scatter can be Power Stacked.
There are Special Coin symbols, and when 6 or more land, they trigger the Link&Win Feature. Triggering symbols get locked in place, and all the other symbols get removed from the board. Three spins commence where new coins reset the counter while locking into position as well. The feature ends when the spins run out or the Valyrian prize gets won.
The special coins represent 4 Jackpots, and they are the Bronze, Silver, Gold and Valyrian. They are worth 20x, 100x, 500x, and 2500x the bet, respectively.
Head back to Westeros and take on the fight for the Kingdom in Game of Thrones Powerstacks by Slingshot in partnership with Microgaming.
