Will Not Using A Players Cards Affect Slot Machines

Reprinted from the American Casino Guide - 1999 edition

By Steve Bourie

Today, the average U.S. casino makes about 65% of its profits off its slot machines. Actually, that number representsall different kinds of a casino’s machines including video poker, video keno, video blackjack, and all other varietiesof electronic games. It didn’t use to be that way. In fact, it used to be just the opposite! Table games were the big revenue producers for the casinos and it was usually the men who playedthose games while their wives were kept busy at the slot machines.

In some jurisdictions, where only pull tabs are legal, the outcome can be displayed to the player on a video monitor, in the form of a slot or video poker machine. However, in Nevada, that is not how slots work. Each play is completely independent of the past. A machine programmed to average a 97% return, could indeed pay under 95% or over 99%. Answer 1 of 35: I use a player's card 100% of the time. I like all the benefits that comes along with my player's card inserted in a slot machine. Can anyone who does not use a player's card explain why not? Do you not insert a card alll the time, some.

Back in the 40s and early 50s, the old mechanical slots were full of gears and springs and were actually powered by pulling the handle which started the reels spinning. One of the problems withthese machines was that they were limited in the size of the jackpots they could offer because they could only accept one coin, plus the hoppers, still relying on those springs and gears, werelimited in the number of coins they could payout.

In the 60s the next generation of slots was introduced: the electromechanical. These machines still had a handle on the outside, but this time when you pulled it you activated an electricswitch which started a motor to spin the reels. These machines increased the popularity of slots because they allowed multiple coin play and they also had electrically-powered hoppers thatcould pay out much larger jackpots. In the 80s computer-controlled slots were introduced.

These new machines revolutionized the industry because everything was now controlled by a computer chip. These electronic marvels could offer progressive jackpots that were linked amongdifferent machines and it wasn’t long before this new computer technology led to the introduction of a new game called video poker.

Today, the technology is so advanced that it allows slot machines that are hundreds of miles apart to be linked together by computer and offer jackpots that start at $10 million (SuperMegabucks), or video poker to be played from five different decks at the same time (Five Deck Frenzy).

Although the technology constantly changes, one thing remains the same: the person responsible for the operation of the slot department is the slot manager. It is the slot manager whodetermines how the slot department will be laid out and how much the machines will be set to pay back.

As a slot player, you’ve probably had a few questions about how a slot department works: How do they decide where to put those slot machines out on the casino floor? Is winning purely luck? Aresome machines really set to pay back more than others? And, if so, where do they put those better-paying machines? Well, the person with the answer to those questions would be the slot managerand I found two who were gracious enough to sit down for an interview in early 1998 to answer some questions about how their departments work and what goes into some of their businessdecisions.

The first stop was at the office of Rich Marino, Director of Slot Operations, at Luxor, the giant pyramid-shaped casino-resort in Las Vegas. Luxor is owned by Circus Circus, one of the largestgaming companies in the world, and the hotel itself, with more than 4,400 rooms, is the world’s third-largest hotel.

Rich began his career working downtown at the Union Plaza in 1976 in the coin room pulling the buckets under the machines. He eventually became the shift manager and a few years laterhe moved to the Gold Strike which later merged with Circus Circus. After a one-year stint at the Elgin Riverboat in Illinois, Rich returned to Las Vegas to help open the Luxor casino and he’sbeen there ever since.

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Rich has more than 200 employees working for him in his slot department, including change people, floor people, money runners, booth cashiers; supervisors, assistant shift managers, andmanagers.

Bourie: What are the job functions of the various people in your department?

Marino: A change person's main function is to provide our casino guests with change service without having to leave the machine. They also pay and verify jackpots on themachines. A booth cashier's function is to provide change and coin redemption service. Floor persons do minor repairs, fill empty machines, and verify jackpots. Supervisors verify the fillingof machines and the payment of jackpots up to certain amounts. Assistant Shift Managers and Shift Managers verify larger jackpots. ...and manage all operations on their particular shift.

Bourie: What goes into your decisions when you lay out the slot floor and are deciding where to put slot machines?

Marino: Traffic flow is the most important consideration when laying out a slot floor. Placing lower denomination machines in high traffic flow areas to insure that theproperty always looks busy. Also, I place the more popular machines in slower areas to draw people to those locations. I look for what types of machines people are playing and I also runreports continually: which locations are doing best, my top 10 machines, my types of machines, etc.

Do having a players cards affect slot machines

Bourie: What is the most popular machine?

Marino: Wheel of Fortune is the most popular right now. IGT (International Game Technology) took its reel-spinning slot machine and added a second-feature spinning wheel on topthat offers a bonus to players. They combined that with the popularity of the Wheel of Fortune game show and they now have the most successful machine on the market.

Actually, in the past 10 years, the slot industry has been kind of boring: just pull the handle and let the reels spin. Now, we have all these second-feature-type games with the WilliamsGames and the Vision IGT (International Game Technology) series. It makes it more exciting. It's not a local type of excitement, but a tourist type of excitement. Tourists like them a lot morethan the locals like them.

Bourie: I went to the gaming show recently and some of those newer slots seemed a little complicated.

Marino: In some cases, I have to actually sit down and play those games before I can figure them out. Initially, I thought that the customers would reject them, but it'snot happening. They are really taking to them. I believe a lot of the customers don't even know which combinations they’re winning on. All they know is that they’re having a good time andaccumulating a lot of credits.

Bourie: They actually don't know the winning combinations?

Marino: Yes, but they know they're having fun. They know there's money coming and they're winning credits and they're having a good time. That's the name of the game. Thereality is that the casino has the edge. You know that and I know that and everybody knows that, but what you’ve got to do is let people have as much fun as they can so that even if they don’twin, they're still having fun. It's an entertainment experience. If you're sitting there and take out a $20 bill, and you're playing and that $20 bill is gone and you don't hit anything, you'vegot a negative experience, you know what I mean?

Bourie: How about your decisions concerning the physical layout and where you want to place the machines?

Marino: What I try to do initially is create excitement by the front entrance of the casino so when a customer walks in they see people playing and having fun. I put popularnickel games upfront because it seems the nickel games always fill up first. (Pulls out the floor plan of the casino and points to various locations). As you can see I've located a couple ofnickel banks upfront and some Wheel of Fortune games next to them.

I try to draw the customers in and create a good flow through the casino. This is the entrance (pointing to a different area of the layout) from the Excalibur when you come over from the movingwalkway that links the two properties. Here, I try to create the same scenario by putting Wheel of Fortunes on this wall and the Williams games adjacent to them. And, as I said, I try to createexcitement in each area and I do that with the types of machines or denominations. The nickel games kind of shield the front areas and we also put them in the back areas because customers aregoing to find them there. They're going to find them no matter where you put them because they like playing nickel machines.

Bourie: I’d like to address some common beliefs that players have about slot machines and here’s the first one: “The casino can flip a switch to make the machines hold more.”Or, “the machines are set tighter on the weekends.” I’ve actually heard people say “there's a big convention coming this week and they're going to reset all the slots to make themtighter.” Any truth to those kinds of thoughts?

Marino: There is no magic switch. The only time we change a machine is when we convert it to a newer or more popular model. And, of course, when you get a new model, then youwould change the e-prom (the computer chip that controls the payback percentage) to that new model. The manufacturer initially sets all the percentages for the machines when ordered. Idetermine the hold percentages I want by the denomination of the machine. The hold percentage averages for the Las Vegas Strip are 11% for nickels, 6.5% for Quarters, 4.5% for dollars, and 3.5%for five dollars and above.

Also, gaming-wise to do that, it's not just going in and changing a chip. You have to go in and you actually have to take all of the money out of the machine. It's got to be returned to thecashier's cage, that money has to be counted and you have to assign a new number to that machine because that's a new machine once you change the e-prom. So, gaming regulations require you tochange the statistics on the whole new machine. It's a whole day process to do that. It's not just to go in and change the chip and leave and say “okay, I've tightened them up for the weekend.”

Bourie: Another thing many players believe is that “the best-paying machines are on the aisles.”

Marino: Not true. The best machines are on the aisle? I'll tell you what, that's a perception people have because most of them like to play machines on the aisle. They'll walkup and play the machines in the end because they don't want to play with somebody next to them. If you've got a guy playing here, here, and here, you're not going to go right next to thatguy. You're going to go to the end so there's nobody next to you. That's why we've gone to these round configurations. People don't like sitting next to each other. So, we're going moreand more to the round ones because people really like that a lot and these games do a lot better than the normal straight rows of slot machines. That's why I try to break them up with roundsdown the middle and slants.

But as far as the tighter and the looser machines, I set them up by model types. I mean, if I have a bank of quarter machines, I'll have a Double Diamond; a Red, White, and Blue; and mypercentages on those quarter machines are all the same. So, it doesn't matter which machine I put where.

Bourie: Then you wouldn’t have a situation where a high-paying machine would be sitting next to a low-paying machine?

Marino: No. If the machines were the same denomination on a particular bank the hold percentages would be virtually the same. In my dollar machines I order everything atbetween 4% and 5%. So, you're talking the difference between one percentage point and that's only because certain models are only available at certain percentages. I mean, I would never put an8% dollar machine next to one at 4%. I don't do that here. Some places might do that, I don't know. I try to give everybody an equal shot no matter what.

Players

Bourie: So, there would be very little difference between a high machine and a low machine?

Marino: If I was going to set it up that way I would put the loosest machine in the middle as opposed to the end because they get the most play. That's why it appears tobe looser to the customer because it gets more play and more action and more people are playing it and it cycles more. And, it gets into those better cycles more often.

Bourie: Which brings us to the next question, “Do machines get ‘hot’ and payout more frequently?”

Marino: Sure they get hot, they also get cold. Through the cycle of a machine, it’s a percentage to pay out a certain amount over a period of time-based on the number ofhandles pulls the machine receives. However, the hot and cold cycles are random and indeterminable.

Bourie: When you order a slot machine do you have to tell the manufacturer what you want it to pay?

Marino: Yes.

Bourie: And, each manufacturer tells you the pre-approved percentages you can choose from?

Marino: That's correct. (goes to the shelf, pulls down a book and opens it to a page). This book contains all the available hold percentages for these particular models and thedenomination of a machine is what determines the hold percentage I would order for it.

This is what I order quarter machines at - 92.4% - which would be right around 7.5% holding for the house. If it's dollars, I order this one (around 95%) and for twenty-fives (around 97%) orhundreds (around 98%), it goes up, like that. If it's nickels, you start down here (around 89%). That's the way it works.

Now, over a period of time, this quarter machine is going to pay back 92.42% and it's going to hold around 7.5% for the house. And when I say over a period of time, that means over 10 millionhandle pulls.

Bourie: 10 million is the life cycle? On every machine?

Marino: 10 million is the number of handle pulls the manufacturer has determined it would take a particular machine to achieve that 7.5% hold calculation. Getting to thatnumber though may take a year. That means in January, that machine might be hot, or today it may be hot. So, I may be holding...it's a volatility index they call it...for the first two monthsof the cycle when that machine goes out on the floor, I may be in the negative. I may be paying out 400% or 500% on that game. But, the next month it may be tighter and at the end of thatcycle, it's going to hold at 8%.

Let me show you something else here. I just put these games on the floor last week. These are the new vision games from IGT (International Game Technology). These have been on the floorfor approximately 14 days. What I do is an analysis: the coin in, jackpots filled, and it tells me my win per day, per unit, and my payout percentage. Now, the first week, which is hardlyanything to analyze, but this machine is doing its handle per day. This is what it's handling, this is what it's winning, this is what it's holding: 5.72%. It actually should be at 4.92%.So, it's over holding by .80%. It's holding too much.

Bourie: So, you always have a variable there?

Marino: Right. There's a variance there. The next game on the row, okay, this one is not holding. It's half of what it should be holding.

Bourie: That's half of what it should be holding, based on what the manufacturer said?

Marino: Right. It should be holding 5.2%, the manufacturer said, and it's only holding 2.75%, but it's only been on the floor for two weeks. When you see a machine notholding...we do a comparison at the end of each month of winners and losers. Then we look at the coin in and we see how long they've been on the floor. Most of the time, I'll look at ayear-to-date number, or a lifetime number on the machine to see where they are actually at.

Bourie: Will this tell you how many actual pulls were made on that machine?

Marino: Sure. You just divide, or you go to the machine itself and you could see exactly how many handle pulls. Normally, you just divide it by the number of coins in and youcould tell the handle pulls. That's basically what we do, but we don't tighten them up, or loosen them up. Once they're out there, they're out there. The only time we do conversions is when wesee a model not getting enough play. Then we say it's not popular and we try something else.

Bourie: Do you ever have a problem, after a year, where a machine doesn’t make money for you?

Marino: No, usually a machine will hold what it is the percentage to hold if it’s had enough handle pulls. If they're supposed to hold 5%, they'll hold 5% after they've been onthe floor for a while Usually when they don't make money, they're holding what they are supposed to hold, but it's not enough for the house average. What you would do is take your bottom 20% ofyour machines and convert those to more popular models.

But to go back to what you were asking before, the hot and the cold factor? That's definitely true. The machine can be hot today and colder than anything tomorrow. It will pay out 400% today toyou and tomorrow it might take 400% from somebody else.

Bourie: Okay, but there's no way to tell if it’s going to stay hot, is there? It reminds me of when I talk to people about playing craps. They all say “just find a ‘hot’ crapgame.” I say, “fine, you may find a ‘hot’ crap game, but all you know is what happened in the past. You don't know what's going to happen in the future.”

Marino: Sure, It's the same as a “hot” slot machine, you just don't know what the next pull will bring.

Will not using a players cards affect slot machines jackpots

Bourie: Right. But people say, “well if it's a ‘hot’ machine, it's going to keep paying out.” People are under the assumption that it's going to keep paying out, and I tellthem “no, it's purely luck.”

Marino: You’re right. They don't pay out forever. All it is, is luck. Being in the right place at the right time.

Bourie: How about this one: “don't play a machine that just hit a jackpot?”

Marino: Well, it doesn't matter.

Bourie: And that’s because the odds remain constant on every pull of the handle?

Marino: That's right.

Will Not Using A Players Cards Affect Slot Machines Jackpots

Bourie: One last question. Do you have any suggestions for players?

Marino: Suggestions for players? The only suggestion I have is to just play the machine that you enjoy the most and that you have a good time at. I mean...I play a little bit.I go out with my wife and she’ll play video poker machines. I'll play video poker with her, but I just play the machines that I enjoy playing. I'll play machines that I see paying back the bestto the customer (by looking at the paytable). Those are the ones I'll look for, and locals do that. If you're a local customer, that's what you look for: the good video poker machines. Justlike Jeff (referring to Jeff Compton, author of the Las Vegas Advisor Guide to Slot Clubs) will tell you. He's an expert at video poker machines.

Rich’s answers were surprisingly candid and they certainly laid to rest some long-standing beliefs among slot players as to how slots are set up in a casino. For years slot players have alwaysbelieved that some machines were set much higher than others within a casino. Rich dispelled this myth by pointing out that all of his machines within a particular denomination were set to payback approximately the same amount. He pointed out that not all manufacturers offer the exact same percentages in their computer chips so there could be a difference of as high as 1% but youreally won’t find a situation where the one-quarter machine that’s set to return 92% would be sitting next to another quarter machine set to return 82%.

If you look at the numbers from the Nevada Gaming Control Board regarding the returns on slot machines that are shown in this book it certainly corroborates what Rich was saying. After all, ifthe average $1 machine returns 95% how much of a difference could there be between the high and the low? Do you think half of the $1 machines are set at 99% and the other half are set at 91% inorder to get that 95% average? Sorry, but it just doesn’t work that way. Yes, there are differences among machines but, once again, the amount is minimal and it probably amounts to no more than1%.

And what about the common belief that machines at the end of an aisle are set to return the most? Well, Rich killed that idea too. He explained that it just seems that end machines pay out moreoften simply because they've played more often.

This is somewhat akin to the “bad player” theory in blackjack. According to this theory, if there’s a bad player at the blackjack table who constantly makes poor decisions it will somehowaffect the order of the cards and cause the good players (who make correct playing decisions) to lose more often. The truth is that the bad player really has no effect on the game becausesometimes his decisions will hurt you and sometimes his decisions will help you. The problem is that you only tend to remember the situations where you lost because of his poor play and forgetthe times that you won because of his boneheaded moves.

This same theory can apply to slot machines at the end of an aisle. When you’re playing in a casino, or just walking through, you’ll only remember the times you saw people winning at machines,not losing. Since the end-of-the-aisle machines get more play, they will, of course, have more winners and people will tend to remember them as the better paying machines.

As far as constantly changing the payback percentages on the chips to make machines “looser” or “tighter” Rich pointed out that it’s not quite that simple and that changes are rarely madebecause of all the extra work that’s involved.

In the July 1998 issue of Las Vegas Advisor this same subject was covered in an interview with three different Las Vegas casino slot managers and two officials from the Nevada GamingControl Board. The Advisor writer discovered that there actually are some slots where the percentages can be changed by flipping a switch, but it only applies to machines that are connectedtogether in a “bank” where they all share the same centralized chip. The vast majority of the machines in a casino, however, are not capable of this function as they each have their owninternal chip.

The Advisor story also went on to point out that Nevada law requires casinos to do paperwork whenever a chip is changed and it must be completed within 24 hours. Also, the casino must completeadditional accounting paperwork for filing with the state. Evidently, the process is so time-consuming the story concluded that “ no one we talked to even had a secondhand story of aNevada casino that frequently changes chips.”

Players panic when slot techs tinker with their games

by John Wilson

If you want to find a group of superstitious people, look no further than your local casino, where you will be hard-pressed to find anyone more superstitious than an avid slot player. Lucky stuffed animals, good luck charms and wishes for “Lady Luck” are common in the casino. When a machine is finally on a “hot streak,” nothing bothers an avid slot player more than someone tinkering with his or her machine. Like walking under a ladder, will opening up your machine cause bad luck to follow?

Will Not Using A Players Cards Affect Slot Machines Work

Have you ever been playing your favorite slot machine only to have casino staff come up and say that they need your machine for a moment? Typically they will remove your players card, insert their employee card, then do whatever they do, usually filling the compartment with coins (where coins are still used). The ticket-in, ticket-out machines have virtually ended this type of interruption.

One burning question remains. Whenever a slot attendant touches your machine or opens the door for whatever reason, what actually occurs within the machine? Have they reset it? Will your winning streak fizzle out? Did they do this because you were winning too much and they needed to adjust the machine’s payout?

I’ve often heard people complain that their game is no longer paying out after the pesky staff “touched” their machine. There’s a common feeling that the attendant somehow tinkers around with the machine and “turns down the payout.” Is there a secret dial that adjusts the payout of the machine? Or, is this team of coin-filling staff a secret group destined to cut off your winning streak before it gets out of hand?

“Charlie Seven from dispatch. Proceed to machine 1623 in the quarters’ section. There’s a lady who just won mixed 7s. Reset her machine before she hits the jackpot.” “Roger, Blue leader.”

Apart from any conspiracy theory, we know that there are times when an attendant must perform some sort of reset on our game. Does this have any effect on your game? Will it cause your hot machine to go cold?

The best way to find answers to these questions is to actually peer inside the machine and study just what happens when this reset is performed. You can’t do this on your own and the casino staff frowns on patrons reaching inside of an open machine. Must we meet a slot technician in a darkened ally to talk about what happens? No, this seems too dramatic. Fortunately, we can take a leisurely stroll through a slot machine this month and see what we can actually do to it.

First of all, why the secrecy about the inside of the machines? Why does staff have to put in their card and touch a bunch of buttons? The answer is simple—security. Believe it or not, the casino is more concerned with the staff than they are the players. You don’t get to go inside the machine like the staff does. Why be so concerned about the inside of the machine? In those casinos still using coins or tokens, there is a hopper full of them—2,000 in the case of a quarter machine. That’s $500 that could be scooped up. Also, there’s hundreds and thousands of dollars in currency that has been put into the bill validator. In short, there’s a lot of money inside the machine. The second, and perhaps most important item, is one of accountability. Many gaming regulators require a log be maintained of each time the inside of the machine is accessed. In the case of the slot machine we’re looking at, the front door has been opened 1,568 times since it was put on the casino floor. These machines even record the door being opened when the power is off. This means that any time anyone goes inside the machine, there is a record kept.

You may have noticed that whenever the slot attendant opens the door he or she writes in a little book. This is called a MEAL card and stands for Machine Entry Access Log. This is a document that must be kept by law. Gaming commissions want to know what the casinos are doing with the machines and the casinos must provide documentation of the same.

One reason for this documentation is for patron complaints. Perhaps you decide to complain to the casino, or the governing gaming commission, that some casino staff opened your machine, flipped some switches and took away your jackpot. It can be determined who was in the machine, exactly when, and what they were doing. Videotape of the same time would also document this. The card that is put into the machine identifies the employee, and verifies that they have the authority to enter the machine. The code they type in is a password to ensure that someone hasn’t stolen their card and is trying to use it. The high-security key opens up the physical lock. Many components inside have separate locks, such as the processor board and the cash box. Apart from the machine’s own record of people inside, the casino’s computer system maintains a record of access as well and verifies the machine’s log. This multilevel process ensures that the records agree with each other and confirm the reason for access. In short, if anyone opens up the door of the slot machine for any reason there are a number of records kept of this action.

Well, that may be fine, but once inside the machine, what can you do? The “reset” button is required for security purposes. The reset doesn’t do what you think, though. It doesn’t restart the machine and clear out everything that has already happened. The term reset is not really an accurate term. A more appropriate word would be acknowledgement. Opening the door and then closing it can clear simple tilts or errors. Other more serious errors require this reset, or acknowledgement.

Suppose that you cash out your credits from the machine after a run of good luck and the hopper runs out of coins. Video machines will show a message stating “Call Attendant—Hopper Empty.” Spinning reels slots will display a message on the credit meter like “Hpr Err” or a code such as “3300” or “32.” The slot machine and the casino’s computer system record these codes. The error codes tell the slot attendant what has happened to cause this “tilt” condition. In the case of the “hopper empty” error, it informs the staff to refill the spare token supply in the base of the slot machine. Once the attendant fills the hopper and closes the door, your tokens continue to be dispensed. This is a “simple error,” which means that it’s an expected event that needs some form of attention.

Some error conditions or tilts are more serious. Years ago, slot cheats used a technique called “stringing.” A string was tied to a coin and once the machine accepted the coin, the coin was pulled up out of the machine. This would allow the same coin to be used over and over again. Modern slots track the motion of the coin so that a coin moving up out of the machine will be detected. Sensing this attempt to cheat, the machine will tilt and stop working until someone acknowledges the error. A slot attendant must open up the machine and press the reset button, in order to acknowledge the cheating attempt.

Other errors occur when the machine is not working properly and tells the staff to check the machine and repair the problem. In some cases the machine may encounter a serious problem that prevents it from completing the game. Perhaps one of the reels gets stuck and cannot move properly. The error code displayed on the machine will inform the technician about the problem and the machine will lock up to prevent you from continuing to use it. More than likely, the reels will go into a mode where they spin very slowly and continually to indicate that a problem has occurred. Once the problem has been fixed, the machine then needs to be reset. In reality, this sends a notification to the slot machine that a technician has seen the error and performed some form of diagnostics to fix the error. The reset simply acknowledges that the error was identified and corrective action taken. The slot machine then records this and the central computer receives an acknowledgement. The employee number is also recorded through the employee’s card inserted into the machine. Once the door is closed, the machine then goes into its “post error” state.

The machine will preserve its status before tilting and displaying the error code. Once the error has been corrected, it will resume from the point where it stopped. In all cases of tilts the machine records the symbols that should come up on the payline for the game that had the error. It then respins the reels to land on the same place they were supposed to land. They might do this automatically, or you might have to push the spin button. In all cases, however, the machine knows where it was supposed to end up and will try to get to the same place again. If another error comes up, it waits until the error is cleared and then tries again. Even if the machine has to be turned off so that some component can be replaced, the slot machine will retain the information about the game that was in progress so that it can continue when the power is turned back on. You don’t lose the spin that was taking place—the machine will respin giving you the exact same game outcome. Once more, this is a legal requirement of the gaming commission.

In order for that game to be approved for use in the casino you’re in, it must pass these tests. And these situations are checked to make sure that the machine acts appropriately. Otherwise, that spin might have resulted in a jackpot and after the error you would get a different result. Conversely, the game might have been a losing game and after the error it picked a jackpot. The gaming test labs and gaming commissions make sure that the machine works fairly. Fair applies to both the player and the casino.

Pull-Tab Theory of Slot Machines
I have a published theory on slot machines called the Pull-Tab Theory of Slot Machines. Basically, it’s a comparison of a slot machine game to the lowly pull-tab tickets, sometimes called Nevada Tickets. With these tickets, usually around 50 cents to one dollar each, there are five perforated sections that you peel open to see if you won. There are various themes, including slot machines.

Many people think that slot machines play like the pull-tab games. With the pull-tabs, the seller opens up a bag or box of tickets and puts them into a Lucite container. In the box is every possible combination of game outcome. There’s the top jackpot award of $100, the $50 second prize, a handful of $20 tickets and all of the non-winning tickets as well. Suppose that we have 400 tickets in the box and that there is only one jackpot prize. If you are the first customer, your chances are one in 400 of hitting the jackpot. After purchasing a ticket (let’s assume that you don’t win anything), your chances of hitting the jackpot have increased. You now have 1 in 399 as one losing ticket has been removed from the box. If half of the tickets are sold but the jackpot still hasn’t been won, your chances are one in 200. This is twice the chance of hitting the jackpot as the first game you played. And, if there are only two tickets left and the jackpot still hasn’t been won, it’s 50-50. One ticket is going to win $100 and the other one won’t. In this case, you’re best decision is to buy them both. A $2 wager is guaranteed to win you the $100 jackpot!

Do Using A Players Cards Affect Slot Machines

The key difference here is that in a pull-tab game winning and losing combinations are removed from the box and your chances of winning or losing changes after each game. If the first person wins the jackpot amount, then 399 people will have no chance of winning the jackpot. It’s already gone and no matter what you do, you can’t win it. With a slot machine, however, it’s not removed. If you win the super megamoney billion-dollar jackpot then you have beat great odds in winning that jackpot. However, the next spin gives you the exact same odds of winning as you had the game before. Winning and losing games are not taken away or replaced. The slot machine does not keep track of the game before so that it affects the next game. A legal requirement of slot machines in all gaming jurisdictions is that each spin of the game must have precisely the same probability of winning or losing and that the probability of each particular type of payout (three BARS, for example) will remain constant.

I believe this perception of the slot machines comes from a misunderstanding of the slot machines’ random number generator (RNG). As the machine picks random numbers, you might or might not have a winning combination selected from the random numbers. Resetting the machine does not reset the RNG. It doesn’t start over at the beginning of the random numbers. In fact, the machine will store the arithmetic process to determine the random number and it preserves this at all time. This means the slot machine might have generated 50-million random numbers when your hopper ran out of coins and the attendant had to reset it. However, the machines must retain the previous state of the random number generator and continue from this point. Even shutting off the machine and unplugging it will have no affect on this. The machine records all of the information in non-volatile memory so that when the power is shut off nothing changes. It simply picks up from where it left off. If the machine has picked 50 million random numbers when it is turned off, the next number generated when it is turned back on will be the 50,000,001st number. This means that any restarting of the machine or resetting will not have any affect on the game outcome. This is done for fairness.

Do Having A Players Cards Affect Slot Machines

Conclusion
Looking inside the machine, there is no large dial to “turn up” or “turn down” the payout. Nothing that a slot person does can affect how the machine plays or pays. The games are specifically required by law to preserve the information about each game so that if a tilt or error occurs, the machine will provide you with the same outcome that it would have prior to the tilt condition. There are literally hundreds of safeguards within the machine so that nobody tampers with anything. If your machine goes cold after the slot attendant is inside your machine, it’s just the turn of luck. You’re just as likely to get a winning streak.