Q: Do you have any idea of approximately how many slot machines are in each of the major Strip casinos, along with the larger casinos off the Strip?

A: Approximately, yes. But trying to get a 100% accurate figure would be like trying to herd chickens, because it's a constantly fluctuating number, as machines get changed out, gaming-floor areas expand or contract (to accommodate temporary events like tournaments, for example), machines get moved around to encourage traffic in less busy areas of the casino, and so on.

What we can do is offer a snapshot that was accurate at the time it was published, courtesy of the Nevada State Gaming Control Board's Non-Restricted Count Report. Produced on a quarterly basis, this is an 89-page (or thereabouts) account of the quantity and denomination of gaming devices and the type and quantity of table games possessed by all the non-restricted licensees (meaning, among other things, that gaming, whether it be all games or slots only, must be their primary source of income) in the state of Nevada.

The June report had not yet been published when we tackled this question, so the most up-to-date figures available were accurate on March 31, 2006, but have undoubtedly shifted subtly since then. (While in the process of writing this answer, for example, we received a press release from Arizona Charlie's Boulder, proclaiming the 250 new slot machines that they'd just added as part of their recent expansion). But here, as near as we could get, is the answer to your question:

Total number of slots in Strip casinos: 43,976

Total number of slots downtown: 12,806

Total number of slots in principal off-Strip properties, excluding downtown: 45,569

Top three properties on the Strip for most slots: Bally's - 2,713; MGM - 2,600, Bellagio - 2,450.

Top three off-Strip properties for most slots: Sam's Town - 3,135; Orleans - 3,110, Boulder Station - 3000