ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — I had to go to the calculator: Route 66 Casino-Hotel is giving away $500 every 12 minutes from 6-10 p.m. every Friday this month. That adds up to 240 minutes, divided by 12 equals 20, meaning they’ll give away $500 20 times every Friday evening. That comes to $10,000.

Make plans now to attend Sandia’s Super Bowl celebrations on Feb. 7, which draw in big crowds each year. The Tlur Pa Lounge will be hosting its annual party. But get there early, because there is. Hit the Jackpot with Over 1,750 Slot Machines Sandia Resort & Casino offers the best slot play in New Mexico with more than 1,750 slot and video machines in denominations ranging from a penny to $100. Discover all your favorite slot games including traditional stepper reel-type and video slot machines, video poker, Roulette, and Must. Meet four time Super Bowl Champion & first ballot Hall of Famer 'Mean' Joe Greene and Heisman Trophy Winner and Hall of Fame Cowboy running back Tony Dorsett at Sandia Resort and Casino, Saturday February 4th from Noon to 3pm! Joe and Tony will be available for complimentary autographs and will pose for photographs with fans! Make it a weekend getaway Overlooking the majestic Sandia Mountains, just minutes from Albuquerque Airport, Sandia Resort & Casino welcomes guests to a unique Southwestern setting with outstanding service and modern comforts. Discover everything the Southwest has to offer without breaking the bank.

How do folks get in on this cash avalanche? Just show up, get in front of a slot, insert the 66 Player’s Club card in the machine and start pushing buttons. The casino’s computer will randomly select players during the four hours of the giveaway. The odds are pretty good.

One casino graybeard put it to me this way: “Let’s say you sit and play for four hours and along the way you pick up $500. That’s like a $125 an hour. Nobody I know makes a hundred and a quarter an hour.”

For some it’s luckier than that: On Jan. 6, a lady from Albuquerque came from work, got to the casino around 6, sat at her favorite machine, and had just settled in when she won $500. Go figure.

Any business like a cocktail lounge, tavern, bowling alley or casino that is staging a Super Bowl party on Feb. 5 is hoping for a jump in business. They must seek permission from the National Football League to say they are having a Super Bowl party. Rather than go through all that paperwork, folks are just having a Big Party. That includes Route 66.

Sandia Casino Super Bowl Party

On Big Game Sunday, the casino is bringing in Dallas Cowboy legends Randy White and Ed “Too Tall” Jones. They’ll be hosting the Big Game party in the casino’s Legends Theater.

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The big game will be viewed on the largest screen I’ve ever seen. Last week I watched the techs at 66 testing this behemoth. From the back of the theater I could see the freckles on one Dallas cheerleader. Talk about high definition.

Before and during the game patrons will have chances to win scores of autographed Dallas Cowboys memorabilia. The big prize at the party will be a pair of 2012 season tickets to all Cowboys home games.

Doors to the Legends Theater will open at 2 p.m., and the kickoff is at 4:30. Admission is free, but the smart thing to do is buy the Stadium Pass for $15 because this gets you a pass to the all-you-can-eat buffet plus a special event T-shirt. Tickets are available at the box office.

On Saturday, Jan. 14, hardworking comedian-actor Paul Rodriguez will work the Legends stage. Paul starts talking, we all start laughing at 8 p.m. Tickets are still available, going for $25, $30, $35 and $40.

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SANDIA RESORT & CASINO: Sandia is giving away a 42-inch high-definition set after each and every playoff game. They’re doing it the cocktail lounge — no admission fee, no charge, just show up and sign in. The casino has set up extra monitors, so everyone has a great seat.

Sandia Casino Super Bowl

CASINO HOLLYWOOD: New Mexico’s coziest casino, San Felipe Pueblo’s Casino Hollywood, is staging another of its “pulsating promotions.” This one’s titled “The 1,000,000 Zoom Ball.”

Here’s the gambit: The promotion goes 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sundays through Thursdays, during January. Three randomly timed drawings are held each hour. In order to be called, players must have their player’s club card in the slot.

Once selected, the winner comes to the Welcome Center, where he or she faces a bingo-ball machine, blower and all. The patron pushes the start button and watches as white and orange bingo balls bounce around. Eventually six of the balls end up in a chute; now comes the payoff.

If there are no orange balls in the lineup, the player receives $25 in free slot play. If the there is one orange ball, it’s worth $50 in cash; two gets $250 cash; three is good for $500, while four orange balls would reward the player $1,000; five would return $10,000 and all six orange would bring in $1 million.

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In the promotion, if the player called was sitting between or beside one or two players, they would each receive $25 in free play.